Ten Piece
by Spartan of Chaos
Summary: Ben Tennyson and his team are in for the adventure of a lifetime when Professor Paradox sends them on a mission to aid the Straw Hat Pirates in finding the legendary treasure One Piece and help Monkey D. Luffy achieve his dream of becoming the Pirate King.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: One Piece and Ben 10 do not belong to me.**_

 _ **AN: For those of you who are wondering, I did ask for Bigby's permission to do this story. Unlike the previous version, this story takes place after Ultimate Alien with** **Ben's Ultimatrix being replaced with the new Omnitrix from Omniverse; however, it will have the Evolutionary Function like the Ultimatrix does plus the aliens that Ben unlocked from that series as well. I hope you all enjoy what I have planned for this story.**_

 _ **Ten Piece**_

 _ **Chapter One: Brand New World  
**_

* * *

The day started out like any other for Ben Tennyson, his cousin Gwen, and their pal Kevin Levin. The three of them were at Mr. Smoothy so Ben could chug his way past some of the weirdest combinations of smoothies in existence.

"Seriously," Kevin said, sitting up against his car while Ben had gone inside to order. "I don't know how he can drink all those smoothies and not get sick once."

"Weird tastes must run in the family," Gwen said, remembering her grandpa's strange taste in food.

"I'm back," Ben said, walking back outside and towards Gwen and Kevin with a tray full of smoothies.

"That was fast," Kevin noted. "Those guys must have all your favorite flavors memorized."

"Did you even pay for them?" Gwen asked.

"Nope," Ben said with a grin. "The guy in there said they were on the house. Awesome!"

Kevin snorted. "Figures," he said. "Ever since you became a celebrity, Mr. Smoothy is suddenly considered a sacred place."

Ben sighed. Once again, his sudden rise in fame had been brought up. Sure the attention had been okay at first. But there's a flip side to every coin. As with most celebrities, Ben had to put up with harassing paparazzi, the slanderous Will Harangue, not to mention all the villains who knew where he lived now. And all that was only the tip of the iceberg. There had also been the whole incident with Aggregor and the Map of Infinity. Then after that, Ben and Gwen had to put up with a mutated Kevin. Again and finally, there was that incident with Diagon, Sir George, and the war between the Forever Knights and the Esoterica which ended with Azmuth having gifted Ben with a brand new Omnitrix. It was much sleeker than the Ultimatrix, as it was now only slightly larger than an average wristwatch as opposed to being a large gauntlet. It was a square, white watch with green highlights, with said highlights converging on the black faceplate to form the intergalactic peace symbol, which resembled an hourglass. As opposed as Azmuth was to the evolutionary feature that Albedo, his former assistant, had added to the Ultimatrix, he recognized that it had aided Ben numerous times during his hero tenure, and reluctantly decided to include it in his latest model.

"You know what?" Ben asked Gwen and Kevin as he drank one of his smoothies. "I just wish I could…get away from it all."

"All what?" Gwen asked as Ben finished his first smoothie and went on to the next one.

"All this attention," Ben explained before taking a drink out of his smoothie and then continuing. "To be honest, I'm tired of being a celebrity."

"Better than being on the most wanted list," Kevin pointed out before adding with a smirk. "I should know."

"…Anyway," Ben continued as he started on his third smoothie. "I just wish that…there was someplace I could go for a while, where I won't have to put up with any paparazzi or Will Harangue or…"

"I believe I can help you with that."

The three teens turned to see a man wearing a suit, white lab coat, and goggles around his neck smiling at them while holding a pocket watch in his hands.

"Professor Paradox?" Ben asked the man. "What are you doing here?"

"Ain't it obvious by now, Tennyson?" Kevin asked with a sigh. "So…what universal crisis are we dealing with this time?"

"Now, now, Kevin," Paradox said. "What makes you think the universe is in danger every time I come to visit?"

"Oh, I don't know," Kevin replied sarcastically. "Maybe because it always is?"

"Usually," Paradox admitted. "But not this time."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "The universe isn't in danger?"

"Not exactly," Paradox replied.

Ben frowned. "Okay that…didn't answer my question."

"If the universe isn't in danger," Gwen said. "Then what is?"

Paradox smiled at Gwen before looking at the others. "Tell me, have any of you three ever heard of "parallel universes"?"

"That's just a theory," Kevin said. "Never been proven." He noticed that Gwen and Ben were both staring at him. "What? Alien tech dealers were always hoping to find parallel universes so they could have more customers. Never worked because they could never find them."

"Well, that's not entirely true," Paradox said. "Just because something isn't found, doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"Let me guess," Ben said. "You've found these parallel universes, haven't you?"

"Quite an amazing find, I must say," Paradox said rather proudly. "There are many different parallel universes out there. Some contain similar physics to ours while some contain discoveries that our own universe could only dream of finding."

"And you're saying that one of these parallel universes needs our help?" Ben asked.

"What'd I tell ya?" Kevin asked him. "Whenever Paradox shows up, we wind us having to do something."

"Well, it's not an entire parallel universe that needs your help," Paradox said. "Rather, it is one of their Earths that need your help."

"A parallel Earth?" Ben asked, interested despite himself.

"Yes," Paradox said with a nod. "But I think it would be best if I were to explain this world to you while you go and pack."

"Pack?" Kevin asked in concern. "How long are we supposed to be staying there?"

"I'm afraid you will be staying there for quite some time," Paradox answered.

"What about our parents?" Gwen asked.

"Who's gonna keep Bellwood safe?" Ben added.

"I have already explained the situation to your Grandfather," Paradox said. "He will tell everything to your parents. As for protecting Bellwood, that job will now be for the Plumbers' Helpers."

"What about school?" Ben pointed out.

"While I am fond of good education," Paradox said. "I'm afraid you won't be attending school for quite some time either."

Kevin shrugged. "Works for me. But what about us packing and getting ready?"

"You can get started right now," Paradox said brightly. The others looked at him in confusion until they realized that they were standing in front of Ben's house. Kevin's car included. Ben's parents were out of town, which explained why only Ben's car was in the driveway and his parents' car wasn't.

Kevin made a face at Paradox. "I hate when you do that." He said.

"Well then," Paradox said as he walked to the door of Ben's house. "Shall we?"

Exchanging confused looks with each other, the three walked up the house. Ben unlocked the door and let everyone inside as Paradox continued talking.

"Unlike our own Earth and its technology," Paradox began. "The parallel Earth that requires your assistance has unique technology in a world of pirates."

"Pirates?" Ben asked, his interest caught.

"Pirates?" Kevin asked, not really interested. "What kind of weird parallel Earth is that?"

"Oh, don't believe it's the same as the pirates from your own world," Paradox told him. "This world of pirates is unlike anything you have ever seen." He chuckled. "And I know that you have seen a lot."

Ben went up to his room and began pulling various clothes out of his dresser and closet.

"I suppose it would be best if I told you a little bit more about an important moment in this world's history," Paradox said. "You see, there was once a pirate who went by the name of Gol D. Roger, incorrectly called Gold Roger by most. He was known as the King of the Pirates and said to possess power and a vast amount of wealth beyond anyone else's dreams. This wealth has been called a treasure known as One Piece."

Kevin looked at Paradox with interest now. "Keep going," he coaxed.

"One day, Roger was finally going to be executed by the marines of that world," Paradox continued. "Before he was executed, however, he announced to the world that his fortune was for the taking, but whoever wanted it would have to find it. Ever since his death, pirate crews have been forming left and right to find the legendary One Piece, because whoever possesses it will become the King of the Pirates."

Kevin grinned. "Treasure, huh? Now you're talking! I'm in!"

"Figures," Ben said as he started packing his clothes in a duffel bag. "You'll do anything if it has profit in it."

"I'm a guy with simple needs, Tennyson," Kevin said.

"Oh, like a legendary treasure is a simple need?" Ben countered.

"But…what does that have to do with us?" Gwen asked Paradox.

"You will be helping a crew that is looking for One Piece. The Straw-hat Pirates."

"Hold up," Kevin interjected. "You mean we're supposed to be helping someone else claim this One Piece thing? Why?"

"Because it is of the utmost important that the Straw-hat Pirates find the One Piece before anyone else."

"Why?" Ben asked curiously.

"Because," Paradox said. "Unlike the countless other pirates who want the One Piece merely for power and recognition, the Straw-hats' captain, Luffy…"

"Luffy?" Kevin asked with a snort. "What kind of a name is that?"

"Kevin, shush," Gwen scolded him.

"Luffy," Paradox said. "Merely wants to find One Piece, because he believes that the Pirate King is the one who has the greatest freedom."

"Freedom?" Kevin repeated. "Freedom? That's all? This guy's looking for the greatest treasure in his world and all he wants it for is freedom?"

"Sounds like an okay guy to me," Ben said. "But why does he need our help?"

Here, Paradox's smile turned mischievous. "I'm afraid that will spoil the surprise."

Kevin scowled. "I really hate when you do that."

"How do we know that this Luffy guy will even let us join his crew?" Gwen asked.

Paradox chuckled. "Believe me when I say that once he sees what you are capable of, he will practically drag you into his crew."

Ben frowned. "That…doesn't fill me with much confidence."

"So," Paradox said. "Are you three in?"

"Sure," Gwen said.

"I'm in," Ben said.

Kevin shrugged. "I'll come along. Besides, maybe I'll get some treasure of my own."

Paradox beamed. "Splendid! Now, I want you all to pack up and meet me outside Ben's house in one hour. I should be there by then. Or am I already there? It's so hard to tell sometimes."

"You're telling us," Kevin muttered.

"Well," Paradox said as he pulled out his pocket watch. "See you three in an hour." In a flash of blue light, Paradox disappeared.

* * *

An hour passed and the trio stood outside Ben's house. Each one had a bag or suitcase of clothing with them, as they figured that they would be staying in this parallel world for some time. Each one was interested in going for different reasons. Ben was interested in what new adventures lay ahead for him in this new Earth. Gwen was interested in all the things she could learn. Kevin was interested in all the treasure he could obtain.

"Good to see you all here," The trio saw Paradox walk up to them. "I'm glad to see you're all packed up."

"We're ready when you are, Professor Paradox," Ben said.

Paradox nodded in approval. "But before I take you there," he said. "There is something I must tell you."

"What now?" Kevin asked.

"In this Earth, there are special fruits called Devil Fruits," Paradox said. "And they have the ability to bestow a permanent power on whoever eats one."

Ben, Gwen, and Kevin all stared at Paradox. "Seriously?" Ben asked.

"Seriously," Paradox answered. "There are many fruits but they are categorized by three different classes. The first and most common class of Devil Fruit is the Paramecia. They bestow the eater abilities that would be typically associated with what you would call super powers. Gwen, Kevin. Your powers will most likely cause people there to believe that you ate Paramecia fruits."

"Wow," breathed Gwen.

"The second class is known as Zoan," Paradox went on. "Those fruits allow an eater shapeshifting powers that deal with animals. Say if a man ate a Zoan fruit that let him turn into…a lion. He could not only turn into a full lion, but he could turn into a hybrid form of man and lion, allowing him to use the properties of his human and animal forms. Depending on what form he'll be using at the time, Ben will often be mistaken as a Zoan fruit user."

"That makes sense," Ben said.

"The third class is the Logia," Paradox said. "These fruits not only allow an eater to control a certain element like ice or fire, but it allows them to control and actually become that element. Due to their powers, most physical attacks do not hurt them."

"So what are we supposed to do if we run into a bad guy with a logia fruit power?" Kevin asked.

"Most logia devil fruits have a certain weakness based on their element," Paradox told him. "Aside from that, Devil Fruit Users all bear one critical weakness. Water."

"Water?" the three teens asked him.

"The Devil Fruits have a strange reaction to the sea," Paradox said. "Because of that, large bodies of water are hazardous to Devil Fruit Users. That will grant you three certain advantages since you do not suffer that weakness. One example is that Devil Fruit Users become hammers and cannot swim. If any part of their body is submerged in water, they cannot use their powers."

"Should be easy then," Kevin said. "Ben can just turn into Water Hazard and blast them with water."

"I'm afraid not," Paradox corrected. "Running water does not weaken Devil Fruit Users like standing water would."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Of course. Nothing's ever easy."

"Don't worry," Paradox encouraged him. "I know all of you will be able to handle any challenge that comes your way."

That caused an uncomfortable silence between the three as Kevin's rampage was still fresh in their mind.

"Now," Paradox said as if nothing had happened. "Are you all ready?"

The three looked at each other and then looked back at Paradox. "As we'll ever be," Kevin replied.

Paradox smiled as he pulled out his pocket watch. "Well then, let's be off!"

Everyone was engulfed by that familiar blue light from Paradox's power. When the light cleared, the trio looked around. The first thing they noticed was that it was night time. With that established, they decided to take a look at their surroundings.

"Where…are we?" Ben asked.

The group was standing on what appeared to be rocks that resembled giant cacti. But then Gwen saw that the spikes on the "cacti" were all tombstones.

"Where are we?" she asked. "Some kind of graveyard?"

"You could say that," Paradox replied. "It might be considered a graveyard of sorts."

The trio's attention was then drawn to a nearby town at the bottom of the hills. Music and merriment could be heard. Judging from the noise level, there was quite a party going on.

"Alright, spill," Kevin said to Paradox. "Where are we?"

"We are at Whiskey Peak," Paradox said. "An island in the Grand Line, a special area in this world where the One Piece treasure is believed to exist. Whiskey Peak is also the current location of the Straw-hat Pirates."

"Why are they here?" Ben asked curiously.

"Well," Paradox said. "There is this ingenious device known as a Log Pose that exists in this world. Think of it like a homing beacon compass to islands' magnetic fields. It guides the sailors of this world to various islands to help them reach their destinations. And the Straw-hat pirates' Log Pose led them here."

"So why didn't you bring us to the town where they were at?" Kevin wondered.

"Because, unknown to the Straw-hat Pirates, this town and its inhabitants are agents of Baroque Works," Paradox explained.

"Bar-who?" Ben asked.

"Baroque Works, a secret organization full of mercenaries, bounty hunters, and infamous criminals," Paradox said. "You will learn more about them, believe me. The agents here specialize in luring pirates into thinking they are welcomed and treated as celebrities. I teleported you to the outskirts of the town because, if I had teleported you in town and the agents learned you wanted to be in the crew, they would have waited until you were asleep before trying to execute you."

Ben looked at Kevin. "And I thought you knew some nasty people."

Kevin glared at Paradox. "You really like to mess with us, don't you?"

"Don't worry, Kevin," Paradox said. "All will be explained to you in due time. And speaking of time, I must be going now. But one more word of advice: don't tell too many people about the Omnitrix. If you do, then countless people will want to get their hands on it. You're free to tell the Straw-hat crew though. Luffy enjoys having people whom he considers to be "amazing". Good luck, you three. I know that you will handle things here." With that, Paradox pulled out his pocket watch and vanished in a flash of blue light.

Kevin grumbled as Paradox vanished. "It would be nice if the guy left us with an instruction booklet or something." He muttered.

Ben sighed. "Nothing we can do about it now. Come on, we better start heading to the town."

"Uh, didn't Paradox just say that it's a town full of mercenaries?" Kevin reminded.

"Yeah," Ben replied. "But it's also where these Straw-hat people are at. They might need our help."

Kevin snorted as they started walking towards the town. "If you ask me, anyone stupid enough to wind up in a town full of mercenaries is too stupid for his own good."

"What?" Gwen asked. "Like we haven't fallen into traps before? Besides, Paradox says that this place tricks pirates into dropping their guard."

"Still," Kevin said. "They're pretty stupid if they fell for a trick like that."

* * *

And so, the trio continued on their way down to the town. And they couldn't help but feel a little anxious. The numerous tombstones on the cacti hills increased their anxiety. These mercenaries had to be good if they had killed so many people.

"This is awful," Gwen said as she looked at the tombstones. "I don't think even the Highbreed, Vilgax, and Aggregor combined are this terrible."

"And Paradox wants us to go up against these guys?" Kevin asked.

"Look," Ben said. "Paradox would never send us into something if he didn't already know that we'd come out of it. We're just gonna have to trust him on this. Anyway, we're reaching the town. If this town really is full of mercenaries, it's best if we stay quiet for now."

Kevin snorted lowly. "I always forget how good you are at pointing out the obvious, Tennyson."

Soon, the gang reached the town. They kept low to the ground so they wouldn't be spotted in case somebody was looking out the windows. To be honest, it was pure luck that nobody had seen them already. Not the trio was complaining of course.

"Hold on a minute," Kevin said. "Paradox didn't tell us how we're supposed to recognize these Straw-hat guys."

The other two paused when they realized that Paradox hadn't told them what Luffy or any of his crew members looked like. How were they supposed to find and join up with them if they didn't know who they were?

"Well," Ben said. "We'll just have to look for someone with a straw-hat."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Brilliant deduction," he muttered. "It's a wonder you even need us."

"They have stopped being noisy," a nearby voice said, causing the trio to fall silent. "And have gone to sleep. I wish for all the brave warriors to have a nice dream."

Nodding at each other, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin followed the sound of the voice, which led them to the front of the town where a man was standing. His back was turned so they couldn't see his face. But they could see that he was a rather wide man wearing a fine suit and had some really curly hair. The guys who wore powdered wigs in the past had nothing on this guy. Ben, Kevin, and Gwen stuck to the side of the building they were hiding at.

"Tonight," the man said as he looked up at the moon and the other cacti rocks. "The cactus mountain…under the moonlight…looks extremely beautiful."

* * *

Kevin cringed. "Okay, that guy better be a member of this Baroque Works thing cause I refuse to be shipmates with someone like that." He whispered. Ben and Gwen quickly shushed him.

* * *

"Been practicing poetry…Mr. 8?" another voice said.

Pressing themselves closer to the wall of the building, the trio saw two people land on the ground. One was a woman with blue hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a long, light green jacket. The other was a guy with orange hair with a green outfit while wearing a crown on his head.

"Oh, it's you," said the man called Mr. 8 without turning around.

"How are they doing?" asked the woman.

"They have fallen…into the abyss." Mr. 8 said dramatically.

* * *

"Okay," Ben said quietly. "I think we can label these guys as Baroque Works agents."

* * *

Just then, one of the doors opened and a large woman dressed like a nun walked out.

"They ate and drank a lot," the nun said as she walked towards the other three. "And I was just drinking tea." She pulled off her headdress to reveal a rather muscular face for a woman, with her hair tied in short pig tails. "So, do you think it's worth having a party for those stupid looking kids?"

"Ms. Monday," Mr. 8 said.

* * *

"Stupid looking kids?" Gwen asked. "Do you think she's talking about the Straw-hat Pirates?"

"Well she's not talking about us," Kevin whispered back. Then jokingly he added. "Or she might be talking about Ben."

"Ha…ha," Ben muttered sarcastically.

* * *

"We should've taken care of them at the port," Ms. Monday said to her comrades. "Our town is almost out of food and no whale meats' coming any time soon."

* * *

"Whale meat?" Gwen asked. "They're whalers? That's awful!"

* * *

"What is that supposed to mean?" the blue haired woman demanded from Ms. Monday

"Yeah, we did our best," the man with the crown argued.

"Calm down and look at this," Mr. 8 said to the others. "I have investigated something about those kids."

The other three looked at him curiously. Mr. 8 then produced a wanted poster for them. It was too far for Ben and the others to see though.

"Thirty million beri?" Ms. Monday and the unnamed couple cried.

* * *

"Berries?" Kevin asked. "What do berries have to do with anything?"

"I don't know," Gwen said. "Maybe they don't mean berries like plants. Maybe berries are what they call money in this world."

"It better be real money because if blueberries and stuff like that are the currency, I'm out of here." Kevin said.

* * *

"It's shameful to underestimate those pirates, Ms. Monday." Mr. 8 scolded the woman.

"I am sorry," Ms. Monday apologized.

"Never mind," Mr. 8 said. "After we have taken care of them, we will tell the boss. Hurry up and get their treasure out of their ship. Then, tie them up. If we killed them, we will get 30% less money because the government wants them alive to execute them in front of people."

* * *

"Oh no," Gwen whispered. "We've to do something or they're going to kill Luffy and his crew."

Ben's eyes hardened. "Not if I can help it," he said to himself as he put down his bag and activated the Omnitrix. Unfortunately, the four Baroque Works agents heard the Omnitrix as it came to life.

* * *

"What was that?" asked Mr. 8.

"It came from nearby," said the guy with the crown.

* * *

Ben grinned as he turned the dial. "Let's see how these guys like Humongousaur!" He slammed the dial down.

* * *

Mr. 8, Ms. Monday, and the other pair saw a flash of green light coming from the side of the one of the buildings. Then, something leapt out at them. It was somebody wearing a huge and bulky suit of armor that made him look like a stove with limbs. They couldn't see the figure's face behind his large headpiece, which only had three slit like lines on the front.

"NRG!" the being yelled in a thick Russian accent before looking at itself and groaning. "Do you hate Humongousaur or something?"

"What the…?" Mr. 8 said, shocked just as his three companions were by this hulking being before him. "Who are you?"

NRG looked up at the four. "I am the one who is going to kick your butt."

The four laughed at NRG's declaration.

"Really?" Mr. 8 asked. "Do you really intend to fight us all by yourself?"

NRG chuckled. "Believe me," he said. "I am more than a match for you."

Mr. 8 and his companions scowled deeply.

"Mr. 8! Ms. Monday!" someone screamed as people came out of the buildings. "One of them is missing!" Then they took a look at NRG and screamed. "Who's that guy?"

"Just some concerned citizens," Kevin said coolly as he came out from hiding to face the growing crowd. Gwen followed after him.

"Mr. 9," Mr. 8 said to the crown guy, forgetting all about being told that one of the Straw-hat pirates was missing. "Ms. Wednesday," He said to the blue haired woman. "Are they part of the Straw-hats?"

The blue haired Ms. Wednesday shook her head. "No. They were never on the ship."

"And believe us," said Mr. 9. "We'd remember someone like that." He pointed at NRG.

"And I take it that you're part of Baroque Works," Kevin said calmly causing every single one of the assailants to look at him in shock.

"How do you know our organization's name?" Mr. 9 demanded.

"Let's just say we have our resources," NRG said cryptically.

Mr. 8 narrowed his eyes. "Very surprising. Since you know our secret, we cannot let you live. We will add…three more gravestones on the cactus mountain."

NRG chuckled again as he raised his fists. "I'm afraid you won't be adding any tonight."

One by one, the crowd of people began to draw various weapons out. Some drew close range weapons like swords, knives, or even axes. Some drew guns but Kevin, Gwen, and NRG weren't threatened. The guns were all flintlock pistols and muskets. One shot per gun before reloading. Pretty unintimidating when you've had to put up with lasers and energy weapons.

"Get them!" Mr. 8 yelled to the bounty hunters.

"A fight?" Kevin asked with a grin. "Come and get it!" He put a hand on the building next to him and soon his entire body was covered in stone. Many of the bounty hunters gasped when they saw the change.

"That guy has the power of a Devil Fruit!" someone shouted.

Gwen created mana disks with her powers.

"Look at what that girl did!" another person yelled. "She must have a Devil Fruit power too!"

Mr. 8 scowled as he studied the three opponents. "Devil Fruit users or not," he told his fellow mercenaries. "We cannot allow them to live since they know of our organization. Now get them!"

While a bit hesitant because they were going up against who they believed to have devil fruit powers, the bounty hunters nodded as they charged at the three. Gwen started off the fight by throwing her mana disks at the bounty hunters. Many were knocked back by the attack. One guy managed to slip past her attack and came at her with his sword raised to cut her down. But before he could, Kevin jumped in the way, causing the guy's blade to nick against his stone body.

"My turn," Kevin said as he turned his hand into a stone mace. His unfortunate opponent only had enough time to widen his eyes before Kevin slammed his mace hand into the guy's face and sent him sprawling.

The gunmen aimed their muskets and pistols at Gwen. "Fire!" they cried. But just as they fired, NRG got in the way, causing the bullets to all ricochet off his extremely durable armor.

"Allow me to heat things up," NRG said as he started to glow with energy. He slammed his hand on the ground and suddenly lava erupted. All the bounty hunters scrambled out of the way to avoid it.

"Ho…how did he…?" Ms. Wednesday gasped. "Are all three of them Devil Fruit users?"

"It doesn't matter!" Mr. 8 said. "Bring them down!"

"Allow me," said Ms. Monday as she removed the rest of her nun outfit. Ms. Monday was revealed to be an extremely muscular woman wearing a short dress with a purple and white diamond pattern, and three green flowers. NRG and Kevin both paused when they saw her.

"Dude," Kevin said to NRG. "Are you sure that's a girl?"

"I have no idea," NRG replied.

"Guys!" Gwen snapped. "That's rude."

"It ain't my problem that this person looks like a drag queen," Kevin said with a shrug of his stone shoulders.

Ms. Monday's eyes hardened at Kevin. "I'll deal with you first," She said. She ran at the stone layered Osmosian.

"I don't think so," NRG said, running up and tackling her. The two were soon rolling around in the ground, wrestling each other.

One guy with a large stone mallet came at Kevin, thinking that his large mallet would be tougher than Kevin's stone body. Too bad for him that Gwen saw it. She created a tendril of mana that grabbed the guy's leg and tripped him up. Kevin quickly took advantage of this to turn his other hand into the head of a hammer and knocked the guy out with one blow. He turned to give a thank you to Gwen when his eyes widened.

"Gwen, above you!"

Gwen looked up to see a bunch of girls a little older than her with various swords, spears, and other blades weapons ready to run her through. She quickly saved herself by creating a barrier of mana. While the girls all caused cracks in the barrier, they didn't manage to shatter it. Kevin leaped up at them and struck them with his hammer and mace hands. Gwen smiled at him. "Thanks, Kevin."

* * *

NRG and Ms. Monday were still wrestling with each other.

"I don't know how you found out about our organization," Ms. Monday said to NRG. "But we're not gonna let you leave this island alive."

"I'm afraid I disagree with you," NRG said. He began using his power to heat up his armor.

"Aaaaah!" Ms. Monday cried in pain as she felt her body burn because of NRG's heated armor and quickly got up.

"Sorry," NRG said as he rose too. "You lose." He pulled back his fist and punched Ms. Monday right in the face. She fell to the ground with a loud thud. It did not go unnoticed by the rest of the Baroque Works agents.

"Ms. Monday was beaten!" someone cried.

Mr. 8, Mr. 9, and Ms. Wednesday all stared in this incredible display they were seeing. And to hear that Ms. Monday, one of their strongest fighters, was taken out so easily was completely unsettling.

Kevin heard footsteps coming up behind him and turned to face his next opponent. Much to his surprise, it was a little kid. When the boy saw that Kevin was looking at him, he freaked out and started crying. Another woman in a nurse outfit ran up to the boy and covered him with her body.

"Please," the woman begged. "Have mercy."

Kevin snorted. "That's not fooling anyone." He delivered quick jabs to their necks, rendering the woman and the boy unconscious.

"How'd you do that?" NRG asked Kevin in amazement.

"What?" Kevin asked back. "I saw it in a kung-fu movie once."

Mr. 8's eyes narrowed. Whoever these three were, they were very strong. "It seems that we need to step in," Mr. 8 said to Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday, who nodded.

"Man," Kevin said as he knocked more bounty hunters. "Aren't there any good opponents around here?"

"You want a good opponent?" Mr. 9 yelled over at him. "That would be me!" he suddenly unleashed a bunch of wild and crazy somersaults towards Kevin. "Hot Blooded…Bat of Guts!"

When Mr. 9 had leaped in front of Kevin, he swung his hand out. Kevin swung his mace fist at Mr. 9, only to hit a metallic bat in Mr. 9's hand. Kevin grunted in pain as his mace hand cracked from the bat.

"Careful!" Mr. 9 taunted. "This is a metal bat."

"Kevin!" Gwen cried. "Hold on!"

"I'm afraid not," Mr. 8 said as he pulled out a saxophone and put it to his lips. "Igarappa!"

Gwen barely had time to create a wall of mana in front of her as the saxophone somehow fired a blast of bullets at her. The bullets caused some considerable cracks in her wall but it still stood. How much longer it would stand was anyone's guess.

"Get her!" Mr. 8 yelled at the bounty hunters.

The bounty hunters were about to advance when a red beam of intense heat cut the ground in front of them. Some of their weapons had been caught in the heat, forcing the bounty hunters to drop them from the pain.

"Forgetting about me?" NRG asked as he started advancing menacingly towards the bounty hunters. The bounty hunters gulped as NRG plowed through them like an unstoppable juggernaut. Some of the more daring tried to attack him, only to break their weapons on his armor. The next thing they would remember would be NRG's fists coming at them and then blackness.

"Stop right there, Mr. Tin Man."

NRG paused. "Tin Man? Is that really the best someone could come up with?"

He turned around to see who it was that yelled at him and it turned out to be Ms. Wednesday.

"I'll deal with you," she said determinedly.

"And how do you intend to do that?" NRG asked. Looking at this woman, he didn't feel very intimidated by her.

Ms. Wednesday responded by clapping her hands above her head and starting to move like a belly dancer. Confused, NRG then noticed that her outfit had many circular patterns on it. As she moved back and forth, it looked to NRG like the circles themselves were moving. It was really hypnotic. NRG found himself fixated on the swirling circles.

"There," Ms. Wednesday said smugly. "Become hypnotized by my Enchanting Vertigo Dance!"

"Tennyson, what are you doing?" Kevin yelled as he ducked from Mr. 9 swinging one of his bats at him.

"Keep your eyes on your opponent!" Mr. 9 snidely lectured him.

Kevin growled. "I'm gonna knock that crown right off your head."

Mr. 9 laughed as he continued swinging his bats at Kevin. "How do you intend to do that when I could shatter you in a single swing?"

"Like this," Kevin replied. He charged forward and tackled Mr. 9 to the ground. Before the acrobat could do anything, Kevin grabbed his bats and his arms became metal while the rest of his body stayed stone. "Thanks." Kevin said before punching Mr. 9 in the face. He got up and ran towards Ms. Wednesday, who was still hypnotizing NRG. "Sorry to have to do this to you."

"Wha…" Ms. Wednesday said before Kevin punched her in the face. She went out like a light.

"Uh…." NRG rubbed his head-plate. "What happened?"

"You were being hypnotized," Kevin said. "Come on, Gwen needs our help."

Gwen was having a bit of difficulty. She had encased herself in a dome of mana from Mr. 8's attacks but he was relentless.

"It seems I should stop playing around," Mr. 8 said. "Preparing to fire." He grabbed the strings of his bow tie and cannons came out of his hair. "Igrappappa!" he pulled the strings and miniature cannonballs fired at Gwen.

But at that moment, NRG leaped in front of Gwen as the cannonballs blasted his body. When the smoke cleared, Mr. 8 was shocked to see that there wasn't even a scratch on NRG's armor.

"Hey, buddy," said a voice behind him. "Let me show you what happens to guys who try to shoot my girl."

Mr. 8 turned around just in time for Kevin to punch him in the face was a sledgehammer fist. While it didn't knock him out, he stumbled a good pace back. Gwen and NRG attacked him by shooting a blast of mana and a beam of energy simultaneously at Mr. 8's back. The combined attacks made him fly towards Kevin, who was eagerly waiting.

"Welcome back," Kevin said as he slammed his sledgehammer fist into Mr. 8's face again. This time, Mr. 8 crumbled to the ground.

The bounty hunters that were still standing were horrified. Mr. 9, Ms. Wednesday, Mr. 8, and Ms. Monday were the strongest people in Whiskey Peak. And they had been defeated so easily. What chance did any of them have against these three monsters? Screaming their heads off, they ran away.

Kevin snorted when he saw the bounty hunters running away and screaming like banshees. "Wimps," he said as he turned back to normal.

In a flash of green light, NRG turned back to Ben. "Well that takes care of that," He said. "Now we just need to find the Straw-hat pirates."

"You're looking for the Straw-hat pirates?"

The gang looked up on top one of the rooftops to see a guy around 19 years old sitting there and looking down at them. He had greenish hair, a plain white shirt with three buttons at the collar and dark green trousers in which the bottoms were tucked inside of black boots. A dark green bandanna was tied around his left arm and three gold earrings dangled from his left ear. Three sheathed swords rested at his hip.

"Who are you?" Ben asked. "Are you another agent of Baroque Works?"

The guy chuckled. "I had a run in with them before," he replied. "They even tried to recruit me. But I turned them down."

"If you're not part of Baroque Works then who are you?" Gwen asked.

The guy grinned. "Roronoa Zoro."

"Zoro?" Kevin asked. "Are you serious?"

"Are you part of the Straw-hat Pirates?" Ben asked, not wanting to stir up trouble again.

"What's it to you?" Zoro asked them.

The three looked at each other. Deciding to take a leap of faith, Ben said "We want to join their crew and help Luffy find One Piece."

Zoro looked at them curiously. "How do I know if I can trust you?"

"Dude," Kevin said. "We just saved the Straw-hats from those Baroque Works guys. Where were you anyway?"

Zoro grinned again. "I was watching the whole thing. I was actually about to fight those guys myself but you went and stole my fun."

"Well," Gwen said. "If you're not part of Baroque Works, then you must be part of the Straw-hat Pirates."

Zoro was impressed. "That's some good thinking right there." He looked at Ben. "You. What happened to that armor you were in?"

Ben paused. "It's…my Devil Fruit power." He thought up. "We all have Devil Fruit powers."

Zoro looked at him skeptically. "I don't know much about Devil Fruits but is there really one that allows you to turn into a giant suit of armor in a flash of green light?"

Ben gulped. This guy was pretty smart. Well, if this guy was part of the Straw-hat crew… well, it was time to take a leap of faith.

"The truth is this," Ben said as he pulled back his sleeve and held up his arm so Zoro could see the Omnitrix.

"What's that?" Zoro asked, squinting his eyes to get a better look at it.

"It's the Omnitrix," Ben said. "It allows me to turn into these monsters. That armor guy you saw, who I call NRG, is just one of them."

"I see," Zoro said, grinning at Ben in a way that really spooked him. "That little gizmo can really turn you into different monsters?"

"Yeah, it can," Ben said.

"Really?" another voice said. "You don't say."

Standing beside one of the buildings was a woman with orange hair and a big grin on her face.

"Nami?" Zoro said. "I thought you had gone under."

Nami laughed at Zoro. "Oh, come on, like I would fall for a lame trick like a town that welcomed pirates. And I can drink way more alcohol than that." Nami brought her attention over to Ben, Gwen, and Kevin. "I saw you guys fighting and I've got to say that I'm impressed. My name's Nami and you are…"

"I'm Ben Tennyson," Ben introduced himself. "This is my cousin, Gwen." He pointed to Gwen, who smiled at Nami.

"Name's Kevin," Kevin said plainly.

"Nice to meet you," Nami said warmly.

"So I take it that you're a member of the Straw-hat Pirates?" Ben asked Nami.

"Yep," Nami said proudly. "I'm the navigator and Zoro here's the first mate. You guys were really nice back there, taking out those guys for us. The rest of our crew is out like a light so they'd be no good."

Zoro snorted. "I could have taken them all out by myself."

"I don't doubt it," Nami said. Then she took a closer look at Ben's Omnitrix. "So this thing really let's you turn into different creatures?" Ben nodded, causing Nami's grin to widen. "Oh, Luffy's definitely gonna want you on his crew for sure."

The gang became aware of grunting nearby and turned to see Mr. 8 slowly getting back up to his feet. His nose and mouth were bleeding from Kevin's blow but he had a fierce determination in his eyes.

"No," He said as he glared at them. "I will not allow myself to be defeated."

"Guess I didn't knock him out hard enough," Kevin said as he prepared to absorb some stone.

"What a shame," a voice said. "Losing to three kids."

Everyone turned to see two people standing nearby. One was a rather tall, dark skinned, black-haired man. He wore a brown trench coat with a pink cravat and a pair of sunglasses. He had a "5" on his coat. The other one was a woman with short blonde hair and dark eyes She wore a yellow and orange hat, as well as a yellow dress with a lemon-like pattern, lemon earrings, and white high-heeled shoes. She was also carrying a bright green parasol with blue stripes.

"Mr. 5," Mr. 8 said. "Ms. Valentine."

"Great," Ben groaned. "More Baroque Works agents?"

"Looks like it," Zoro said.

"Don't you feel ashamed of yourself at all?" Mr. 5 asked Mr. 8

Ms. Valentine laughed. "That's the difference," she said to Mr. 8. "Between you weaklings and us."

"They're not really nice to each other," Gwen noted.

"You came here just to laugh at us?" Mr. 8 asked, his attention purely on Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine.

"That's just a bonus," Mr. 5 replied. "We came here because of orders."

Nearby, Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday were starting to get back up. "Thank you very much," Mr. 9 said. "With your abilities, those guys will be defeated!"

"That's right!" Ms. Wednesday agreed. "Please take care of them."

Mr. 5 made a face at them. "What are you talking about?"

Mr. 9 looked at them in confusion but Ms. Wednesday and Mr. 8 were looking at Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine tensely.

"Uh," Kevin said. "I think it's best if we clear out."

"Sounds good to me," Zoro said.

"Hold on," Gwen said. "Something's not right here."

"You said that we came here to help you?" Mr. 5 asked his fellow agents. "You think we came to the Grand Line just to do that?" He chuckled.

"What?" Mr. 9 asked. "Then what are you doing here then?"

"Don't you have any brains?" Mr. 5 asked. "It's the worst punishment so, the boss sent us."

"Boss?" Ben asked himself.

"Boss said that someone knows his secret," Mr. 5 continued. "Of course, I don't know that secret. But our company's policy is that "everything must be secret." No one should know about each other's past or identities. That person knew the real identity of the boss and that shouldn't be allowed."

"That's right," Zoro told the other three. "Baroque Works is so secret that they don't even know their leader's identity."

"When we carefully investigated this case," Ms. Valentine said. "We found out that there is someone from royalty has infiltrated Baroque Works."

"Wait a minute!" Mr. 9 cried. "I'm not royalty. I mean I wear a crown but I've got nothing to do with this."

"We're not talking about you, idiot!" Ms. Valentine yelled at him.

"What's going on?" Kevin asked.

"Well," Gwen said. "It looks like to me that these people have found a spy in their midst."

"And they've come to silence the spy," Ben realized.

"The spies," Mr. 5 said. "Are people who have suddenly disappeared from the kingdom of Arabasta."

"Die!" Mr. 8 yelled. "Igarapppappa!" he fired his cannonballs at Mr. 5, who was engulfed in the explosion.

"Igaram!" Ms. Wednesday cried.

"Igaram?" Mr. 9 asked her in confusion.

"Please escape now!" Mr. 8 or Igaram yelled at Ms. Wednesday.

A giggle came from up above, causing Ms. Wednesday to look up and see Ms. Valentine floating above her. She delivered a powerful kick the ring that held Ms. Wednesday's ponytail together. Furious, Ms. Wednesday tried to strike at her with a blade attached to a wire but Ms. Valentine somehow floated up to a nearby building. An explosion next to her caused her to turn and see Igaram's body covered in fire. "Igaram!" she cried.

"The betrayers are," Mr. 5 said. "The commander of the Royal Guard, Igaram…and the princess of Arabasta; Nerfertari Vivi." He held up a picture of Ms. Wednesday in princess garments waving. The real Ms. Wednesday, or Vivi, glared at him.

"Oh!" Mr. 9 said as he bowed. "Ms. Wednesday's a princess!"

"Stop doing stupid things, Mr. 9!" Vivi yelled at her partner.

Mr. 5 suddenly stuck a finger up his nose. "Boss ordered us…to kill both of you."

Ben's eyes narrowed. Even though this was a scuffle among mercenaries, he wasn't going to let somebody get killed if he was there to prevent it.

"Not if I can help it!" he said as he stood in between the two groups.

Kevin groaned. "You just had to go and play hero, didn't you?"

"Who's that?" Vivi asked in shock.

Mr. 5 looked at Ben coolly. "When we got here, a bunch of our agents were trying to run away. Apparently two kids and a guy in a huge suit of armor had beaten these guys. You one of them?"

Ben continued glaring at Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine. "I am." He said coolly.

"Wait a minute," Mr. 9 said. "Are you saying that boy was in that huge suit of armor? You've got to be kidding me!"

Mr. 5 looked at Ben curiously. "First you beat them, then you defend them?" he shook his head. "Doesn't matter. You can't compare to us. Just a useless obstacle in our way."

Ms. Valentine giggled. "Yeah. You'll be crushed to the ground by our power."

Ben coolly activated the Omnitrix. Aside from Kevin and Gwen, everyone looked in confusion as Ben scrolled through his different aliens before deciding which one to use. He slammed the Omnitrix down and was engulfed in a flash of green light. When the light cleared, Ben was gone. In his place was a seven foot tall, humanoid plant creature with a flame patterned head.

"SWAMPFIRE!" He called out in a nasally voice.

"What the…?" Mr. 5, Ms. Valentine, Mr. 9, and Vivi all cried.

"How…how'd he do that?" Ms. Valentine asked.

Nami's jaw dropped. "I didn't think he could turn into something like that." Then she covered her nose and mouth. "And what's that awful smell?"

Zoro looked at Swampfire with interest.

Swampfire raised his fists at Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine. "Let's go," he said.

"Hmph," Mr. 5 said. "I don't know what you are but you're still nothing to us." He shoved a finger back up his nose.

Swampfire was dumbfounded. "Uh…why are you picking your nose?"

Mr. 5 pulled a large booger out and held it between his thumb and forefinger. "Nezpalm Cannon!" he yelled, flicking the booger at Swampfire. No sooner did the booger hit him was Swampfire engulfed in a large explosion.

"Ben!" Gwen cried out in concern.

Kevin glared at Mr. 5. "So you're a Devil Fruit user?"

"That's right," Mr. 5 said smugly. "I ate the Boom Boom Fruit. I'm basically a human dynamite that can make any part of my body explosive. And now your friend's gone."

"You sure about that?" Kevin asked as he pointed to something behind Mr. 5.

Mr. 5 looked at him in confusion before he turned around. His jaw dropped as vines began growing out of the ground in front of him. As they did, the vines twisted and molded together until a grinning Swampfire stood before him.

"Surprise," Swampfire said before punching Mr. 5 in the face. The blow was enough to send Mr. 5 flying backwards and hitting the ground.

"Mr. 5!" Ms. Valentine cried in shock. She then turned to see Swampfire advancing towards her. She leaped up into the air. Swampfire expected her to fall back down but was shocked to see that she was floating in the air.

"Surprised?" Ms. Valentine asked. "I ate the Kilo Kilo Fruit! I can alter the kilograms in my body!" She flew above Swampfire. "Take this! 10,000 Kilo Press!" She suddenly shot down towards Swampfire…but he calmly stepped to the side, causing her to fall butt first into the ground.

"You're not very smart are you?" Swampfire said. Wanting to make this as quick as he could, Swampfire pulled his fist back and punched Ms. Valentine right in the face. She spun in the air for a moment before hitting the ground. She was out cold.

"Ben, look out!" Gwen cried.

Swampfire turned around to see Mr. 5 getting back on his feet. He did not look happy.

"Do you really think you can beat two of Baroque Works' top agents?" He asked Swampfire.

Swampfire grinned. "If you're two of the top agents, then this will be easy."

Mr. 5 scowled. "You think so?" He pulled back his sleeve. "I'm gonna prove you wrong." He charged at Swampfire.

"Mr. Plant!" Vivi yelled. "Look out!"

"No worries," Kevin told her calmly. "Ben's got this."

As Mr. 5 came at him, Swampfire raised his arms at him. Fire then erupted from Swampfire's palms and struck Mr. 5, who started to scream in pain from the flames.

Igaram, who had managed to recover from Mr. 5's previous attack, stared. "What kind of being is he?" he asked. "One who can turn into a plant that wields fire? What is this?"

Everyone, minus Kevin and Gwen, watched in stunned silence as Swampfire charged at the burning Mr. 5. Before the agent of Baroque Works could do anything, Swampfire punched him in the face with enough force to cause the man to crumple to the ground.

"Ben!" Gwen said. "Put out the flames!"

Swampfire nodded. He touched the Omnitrix dial on his chest and transformed. In Swampfire's place was another armored creature. Unlike NRG, this armor was red and much slimmer in design. The head resembled that of a bivalve. "WATER HAZARD!" the being shouted in a deep voice.

Now everyone except for Kevin and Gwen were speechless as Water Hazard raised his hands and jets for water shot out of his palms to extinguish the flames on Mr. 5's body. Once the flames were put out, Water Hazard turned back to normal.

"Wha…what are you?" Mr. 9 asked, looking at Ben in complete fear.

"You turned into those…monsters," Vivi said. "And you just took out two officer agents of Baroque Works with ease!"

"I wouldn't say with ease," Ben admitted. "If I hadn't used Swampfire against that Mr. 5 guy, I would have been barbeque." He heard more movement and turned to see Ms. Monday standing up.

"Alright," she said. "Someone mind telling me what's going on?"

"Good question," Kevin said as he looked over at the man called Igaram. "Spill."

Igaram sighed as he looked down at the ground. He was about to speak when Vivi beat him to it.

"I am Princess Nefertari Vivi from the kingdom of Alabasta," Vivi said. "My kingdom has been suffering from a civil war that's been going on for two to three years."

"Ms. Wednesday!" Mr. 9 cried. "Why didn't you tell me you were a princess?" Ms. Monday looked at her in shock.

"The princess discovered that the organization known as Baroque Works was somehow involved with the war," Igaram picked up. "She asked me to help her and I gladly did. We infiltrated Baroque Works and discovered the identity of their leader."

"You did what?" Mr. 9 hollered.

"You're a brave princess," Zoro complimented Vivi. Nami, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin nodded in agreement.

"The boss of Baroque Works has convinced his agents that they're going to make an ideal country," Igaram continued. "But his true intention, aside from merely conquering Arabasta, is unknown even to us."

"If I can't stop him," Vivi said. "My people will fall into his grasp."

"The boss would really do that?" Mr. 9 asked horrified. "I never thought he'd do anything that bad."

"We don't really know the boss," Ms. Monday pointed out to Mr. 9. "How are we to know what he's really like?"

 _"This must be the reason Paradox brought us here."_ Ben thought to himself. " _He wants us to help this Alabasta place."_ He then noticed Igaram looking at him.

"Boy," he said. "I know that a few moments ago we were enemies, but may I ask something of you?"

"Uh…what is it?" Ben asked him.

"If it had not been for you," Igaram said. "I do not know what would have happened to the princess. It is clear that I am not strong enough to protect her. I beg of you…please take Princess Vivi back to her home." He got down on his knees and bowed to Ben. "I beg of you."

Ben was at a conflict. He figured Paradox had wanted him to help Alabasta. Was it where the Straw-hats were going?

"Sure," Nami said. "We'll do it…for a billion beri."

"What?" everyone cried, looking at Nami.

"What?" she asked. "She's a princess, right? What's a billion beri to her?"

Kevin nodded in agreement. "Can't argue there." He said.

"See?" Nami asked. "Here's someone who speaks my language."

Gwen narrowed her eyes. "A kingdom's future's at stake and you're only doing it for profit?"

"Don't worry," Zoro said. "She does it to us too."

"I…I don't know about a billion beri," Igaram said weakly. "But I'm sure we can find some kind of reward for you…I…I…"

Ben looked at Igaram. "I don't know about her," he said. "But I'll do it for free."

"What?" Nami cried in shock. Igaram on the other hand was surprised in a different way.

"People's lives are at stake and that's worth a lot more than money," Ben said to Nami. "I help people because it's the right thing to do and not for profit." Saying that reminded Ben of his hero turned enemy Captain Nemesis who now called himself Overlord. Ben vowed that he would never end up like that.

"Thank you…" Igaram said tearfully at Ben. "Thank you so much. I promise…I promise that you will be rewarded for your services."

"You can keep the reward," Ben told him. "I'm just glad to help."

"By the way," Gwen said to Vivi. "Those guys back there said you find out the leader's real name. What is it?"

Igaram shook his head. "That's too risky to tell you." He said. "If any other Baroque Works agents discovered that you too knew the leader's name, your lives would be in jeopardy."

"We beat up a whole bunch of their goons," Kevin reminded him. "I think our lives are already in jeopardy."

Nami laughed nervously. "It's good that you're not telling us because the person who wanted to conquer a nation should be the worst right?"

Ben snorted. Conquer a nation? He battled guys who wanted to conquer the whole universe.

"No matter how good you are," Vivi said. "You can't compare to Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea." Vivi then realized her slip and covered her mouth with her hands. Igaram, Ms. Monday, Mr. 9, and Nami were all looking at her in shock.

"Didn't you just say the name?" Zoro asked in annoyance.

"Guys!" Gwen called. "Look over there!" She pointed to a nearby building where a vulture with dark goggles and an otter wearing a polka dotted outfit and sunglasses were looking at them all. The otter and vulture looked at each other before the otter hopped onto the vulture's back and the vulture took off.

"It's the Unluckies!" Mr. 9 cried. "They report straight to the boss!"

"They're gonna tell your boss that we know his secret aren't they?" Nami yelled, grabbing Vivi by her jacket's collar and started shaking her.

"I'm sorry," Vivi cried. "I didn't mean to tell you."

"I'll stop them," Ben said as he activated the Omnitrix. "Let's see them try and escape Jet Ray." He slammed the dial down. When the green light passed, a creature that looked like a phantom stood before everyone. It had wide, bulbous green eyes, and a lipless mouth that shook its white teeth. "BIG CHILL!," the creature said in an eerie whisper of a voice. It groaned. "Not again."

"Gh…ghost!" Nami cried.

Big Chill looked up at the vulture and otter as they were flying away. "Ah well, Big Chill might work." He unfolded his blue cloak, which was revealed to be four wings and a pair of fuzzy antenna. All in all, he now looked like a creepy mothman. He took off into the sky after the vulture and otter.

"Just how many of those 'things' can that kid turn into?" Ms. Monday asked.

* * *

The otter and vulture turned around and were shocked to see a moth man flying towards them. The otter tapped on vulture's wing and the vulture nodded in understanding. They turned around and zoomed towards Big Chill. Big Chill's eyes narrowed. So they had decided to go and try to fight him before tattling to their boss? Fine then. Their loss. As the two flew towards Big Chill, he took a deep breath before releasing an icy wind out of his mouth. And the foolish vulture and otter flew right into it. And the instant they did, they were encased in a block of ice. Big Chill watched as the strange pair, still looking at him with their frozen expressions of surprise, plummeted to the river that ran through the island.

"They needed to chill out anyway," Big Chill said before chuckling at his little pun. He flew back to the others and turned back to normal. Vivi, Mr. 9, Igaram, Ms. Monday, and Nami were all staring at him with dropped jaws. Zoro had a look of acceptance on his face.

"First you turn into a giant suit of armor with heat abilities," Igaram said. "Then you turn into a plant creature with fire abilities, a red creature with water abilities, and now a moth ghost with ice breath? How is this possible? What kind of creature are you? There's no possibility a Devil Fruit with powers like that could exist."

"So let me get this straight," Zoro said. "You can turn into different monsters and each of them has different powers?"

Ben nodded. "That's right."

"I'm sticking with him," Nami said, suddenly right at Ben's side and hugging his shoulder tightly. "I've already chosen his position on the crew: he's my new bodyguard!"

Ben made a face at his so called "new position". "B…bodyguard?"

Igaram stared at Ben in wonder. "Yes…I see now that you are most suitable for protecting Princess Vivi."

Nami made a face. "He's my bodyguard first."

" Boy, what is your name?" Igaram asked,

"Ben Tennyson," Ben replied while trying to dislodge Nami from his shoulder.

"Ben Tennyson," Igaram repeated. "Strange that I have never heard of you. Surely one with powers like yours would be told throughout the entire Grand Line."

Ben chuckled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. "I usually keep to myself." He lied. Behind him, Gwen and Kevin chuckled.

"You have defeated the Unluckies…for now," Igaram said. "And the Mr. 5 team should still be unconscious. This is good, as it means Crocodile won't know about you discovering his identity yet. But the fact remains that he now knows about Princess Vivi and myself. She is still in grave danger."

"Don't worry," Ben reassured him. "I'll make sure that she gets home safely."

"Mr. 8 or Igaram or whoever you are," Mr. 9, bringing everyone's attention onto him. "I want to help too."

Vivi gasped. "Mr. 9."

"We're already wanted dead since we failed to kill the Straw-hat pirates," Ms. Monday said. "If we're going down, we're going down helping friends."

Igaram stared at them before he recomposed himself and nodded. "Thank you both." His eyes lit up. "In fact, I think there's something we can do. Mr. 9 and Ms. Monday, I'll need your help."

Mr. 9 nodded with a grin. "What do you need us to do?"

"We three are going to create a decoy ship to lure any other Baroque Works agents away," Igaram explained. "We'll send them on a chase while Ben Tennyson and his companions take Vivi home in secret. Crocodile will not suspect a thing."

"Yeah?" Kevin asked. "Well what if you're caught and they find out the princess isn't there?"

"Hopefully, if we are caught," Igaram said. "The princess will already be in Alabasta."

"Then we need to leave now," Gwen said.

Igaram turned to look at Vivi. "Princess," he said. "Please give me the Eternal Pose."

"Eh?" Vivi said in surprise. She reached into her pocket and pulled out something that looked an hourglass with only a glass orb in the middle of it. Inside the orb was a compass needle.

"Eternal Pose?" Gwen asked. "What's that?"

"Unlike a Log Pose, which will guide you from island to island," Igaram explained. "An Eternal Pose will is locked on to one specific island and will always point you in that direction no matter where you are." He looked at Vivi now. "I will take Mr. 9, Ms. Monday come with me to Alabasta. You will take the regular route. I've never been that way, but I believe you will pass at least 2-3 islands before you get to Alabasta. If you are safe, I hope to see at our country." He looked at Ben. "Please take care of the Princess."

Ben nodded. "I will," he said.

Smiling, Igaram took Vivi's hand. "I think there will be many obstacles during the journey, but please take good care of yourself, princess."

Vivi smiled at Igaram. "You, too." She said. She looked at Mr. and Ms. Monday. "You be careful too."

Mr. 9 smiled at her. "Bye bye, Baby." He said.

"Good luck," Ms. Monday said.

"Come on, you two," Igaram said to them. "We need to prepare everything." With that, the three walked away.

"You know," Kevin said. "For a guy with hair like that, he's not a bad guy."

"Come on," Zoro said. "If we're gonna do this, we need to wake up the others."

"I'll lead them to the ship," Nami said to Zoro, indicating Ben, Gwen, Kevin, and Vivi. "You go and get the other three."

"Got it," Zoro said as he walked off. Nami then grinned at the others as Gwen, Kevin, and Ben picked up their bags that they had put down before the battle.

"Let me show you our boat." She started to led them to the docks when an explosion was heard nearby. The gang turned around to see a roaring inferno nearby.

"No," Nami breathed.

"They already got him?" Ben asked.

"Were there other people besides Mr. 5's team and the Unluckies?" Gwen wondered aloud.

"Uh…" Kevin said. "Color me crazy, but I think it's time to get out of here now!"

Nodding, Nami yelled. "Follow me!" And so, Gwen, Ben, and Kevin followed after her. But Gwen noticed Vivi wasn't following them. She turned around and saw Vivi was still standing there, looking in the direction of the inferno.

"Vivi!" she called as she ran up to the princess. "We have to go." Then she saw Vivi's face and that she was biting her lip and tears were trying to pour from her eyes but she was fighting them. Gwen was amazed at how strong Vivi was trying to be.

"Vivi," she said gently. "Igaram gave his life so that you could get home safely. We won't let his sacrifice be in vain."

Slowly turning her head to look at Gwen, Vivi nodding and began to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Come on!" Kevin yelled back at them. "We need to get out of here."

"Wait!" Vivi cried. "I need to find Carue!"

"Who?" Ben asked.

"My duck!" Vivi explained. "I can't go anywhere without my duck."

Kevin stared at her. "A duck? We're letting ourselves be sitting ducks for …a duck?"

"I'm not going anywhere without Carue!" Vivi said determinedly.

Kevin groaned. "Fine! We'll look for him."

And so, the gang began looking all over town to find this duck. Vivi would yell and whistle for the duck but no one came.

"We're wasting time!" Kevin said after a bunch of fruitless searching. "Let's just go!"

"Kevin!" Gwen said.

"Look, Gwen," Kevin said. "The longer we stay here, the more danger Vivi is in. We have to go now."

Ben sighed as he looked down at the ground. "I hate to say it, Gwen, but I think Kevin's got a point."

"Guys," Gwen said in defeat.

"They're…they're right," Vivi said.

"Vivi," Nami said. "Are you sure?"

Vivi nodded. "Yes. Let's go."

Feeling a bit lousy, Nami led the others to the docks. Once there, they found a small ship that looked like it had been through the ringer and had the head of a ram for a figurehead.

Kevin frowned. "That's your ship?" he asked.

Nami frowned back at him. "Yeah," she said. "What about it?"

"Doesn't look all that intimidating for a pirate ship," Kevin said.

"Hey!" a voice called. Zoro was standing by the railing off the ship and waving at them. "What took you guys?"

"We couldn't find Vivi's duck Carue," Ben explained.

"Duck?" Zoro asked. "This guy?"

"Quack!"

Everyone jumped when they saw a large duck beside Zoro. His wings were tipped with black as were his tail feathers. He had a spot on his bill and wore a blue chullo with a white pattern on it. He also wore goggles and carried a barrel of water around his neck, complete with a straw sticking out of it.

"That….that's a duck?" Kevin asked. "It's huge!"

"How'd you get here already?" Vivi yelled at the duck, who simply quacked back at her.

"Come on!" Zoro called. "I heard that explosion. We need to get out of here!"

Gwen quickly created a stairway of mana that lead from the ground to the ship. Nami and Vivi stared as Gwen, Kevin, and Ben ran up it to the ship. Looking at each other, Nami and Vivi decided they had nothing to lose and ran up it as well. They landed on the deck of the ship.

"Hey!" a new voice cried. "Who are they?"

The gang became aware of three other boys on the ship who were looking at them in confusion. The first was a boy around Kevin's age. He had jet black hair underneath a straw hat and a scar underneath one of his eyes. This had to be Luffy. The next one was an older guy wearing a blue button up shirt and black pants. He had blonde haired that covered one eye while the visible eye had a curly eyebrow. The last person was a tanned, skinny teenager with black curly hair, orange lips and a long nose, which made Ben think of Pinocchio. He wore a dark yellow plaid bandanna, a blue and white striped armband on his left arm, goggles brown overalls with a white sash and no shirt underneath. A yellow satchel was strapped around his shoulder.

"What's going on?" Luffy said. "And what's with the duck?"

"Zoro said this place was a trap," said the long nosed boy.

The blonde haired boy then noticed Gwen. Suddenly his visible eye became heart shaped. "Who is this beautiful woman?" he asked. Kevin scowled and stood protectively beside Gwen.

"Who are you?" Luffy asked, looking at Ben, Kevin, and Gwen.

Ben introduced himself, Kevin, and Gwen. "We'd like to join your crew. And this girl is a princess and she needs to get back to her home."

Luffy looked at them for a moment. "Sure." He said.

Ben blinked in surprise. "Wait a minute," he said. "That's it?"

Zoro nodded. "You get used to it." He said.

"Ms. Wednesday," the blonde haired boy said. "You're really a princess?"

"We'll explain everything later," Kevin said. "Right now, we need to get out of here."

"But what about all the town people?" Luffy asked. "We should thank them."

"It was a trap," Gwen explained. "They were going to give you over to the government and collect your bounty."

"Um…didn't you just hear me?" Kevin asked everyone. "I said we need to get out of here."

"Kevin's right!" Nami said. "Let's go!"

"Yes, Nami-san!" the blonde haired boy said, looking at Nami in a lovey dovey manner before running off. He was followed by Zoro and the long nose boy. Ben wondered where they went when he noticed the ship was moving.

"Turn the ship upstream," Vivi said. "It will be the fastest way out of here."

Following her orders, the ship began to move upstream.

"Anyway," Luffy said as he looked at the others. "What's going on?"

Kevin began to tell a tale that would make many tall tellers jealous. He made a part about how he, Gwen, and Ben had heard about the Straw-hat Pirates and had been looking to join them. They had followed the Straw-hats to Whiskey Peak but it was night time when they got there. They overheard some of the people talking about how they wanted to kill the crew. Wanting to prove themselves to the Straw-hats, the trio had engaged the bounty hunters in battle. This was supported by Zoro and Nami, who had been awake and witnessed the battle with their own eyes. They kept the part out about Ben's transformation as they wanted to see the look on the other three's faces the next time Ben became a monster.

Gwen picked up the tale and told about Baroque Works. They explained about the situation about Arabasta, Vivi, and the whole Baroque Works had to play. Luffy was excited when he was told about Crocodile was one of these "Seven Warlords of the Sea." According to the blonde haired guy, they were fearsome pirates who worked for government to hunt other pirates.

Ben wrapped it up about his promise to help Vivi get home safely.

"So that's it," Luffy said. "Okay then."

Kevin deadpanned at Luffy. "You don't need much convincing, do you?"

"Those jerks," The blonde haired boy, who had introduced himself as Sanji, growled while lighting a cigarette and putting it in his mouth. "Trying to hurt poor Vivi-chan and Gwen-chan. If I had been awake I would have beaten all of them."

"And now we have a criminal organization after us," whimpered the long nose boy, who had introduced himself as Usopp.

"Relax," Nami said. "I'm not scared of those guys."

"How are you not scared?" Usopp asked. "You're usually as scared as I am."

Nami punched Usopp in the head, causing a large lump to appear. "Not anymore," she said with a grin. "I've got a bodyguard."

Sanji's face was one of pure joy. "Of course, Nami-san! I will…"

"I officially declare that Ben's position on the crew is to be my bodyguard!" Nami said, immediately latching to Ben's side again.

"Ehhh?" Sanji freaked out, his cigarette falling out of his mouth.

Usopp looked at Ben. "Is he really that strong?"

Zoro grinned, remembering all the creatures he saw Ben turned into. "He sure is."

Luffy's eyes lit up in excitement. If Zoro of all people said someone was strong, then he definitely had to be.

"Why can't he be my bodyguard too?" Usopp whimpered.

"What?" Nami asked indignantly. "I'm the ship's navigator! I'm more important to the crew. Therefore I deserve the best protection." She looked over at her captain. "Please, Luffy?" she said as she made a pouty face that sent Sanji on cloud nine.

Luffy scratched his chin for a moment. "Yosh!" He said before pointing at Ben. "I declare you Nami's bodyguard!"

"Yay!" Nami said while Sanji began to grind his teeth and glare daggers at Ben, who wasn't really that thrilled about his new role. Zoro chuckled to himself at Sanji's face.

"Vivi," Gwen said. "Can you tell me about Baroque Works? How many people do you think this Crocodile guy will send after us?"

"I'm not sure," Vivi admitted. "But there are about 2,000 people working for Baroque Works and there are many other towns that are similar to Whiskey Peak."

"And since we know who the leader is," Kevin said. "Anyone could be an enemy."

Sanji puffed out his chest and pointed at himself with his thumb. "Don't worry, Vivi-chan. I'll protect you, Nami-san, and Gwen-chan with my life."

Kevin scowled at him again.

"That's very kind of you, Sanji," Gwen said politely. "But I can take care of myself."

"That's for sure," Kevin said with a grin at his girlfriend.

"So, Ben," Luffy said, walking up to the other boy. "How do you fight?"

"Well…" Ben started to say.

"Hey look," Usopp said. "The mist is coming. It must be almost dawn."

The other looked ahead. Sure enough, mist was coming and a light was shinning in the distance. The night was over.

"Be careful not to hit the rock. I'm so lucky I found you."

Everyone turned around at the sound of the voice. Sitting on the railing of the upper deck of the ship was a woman wearing a skimpy cowgirl outfit consisting of a purple cleavage-exposing top and matching miniskirt, complete with a dark purple cowboy hat and boots.

"What?" Zoro said in shock.

"Who's that?" Nami asked, fearing the worst.

"She's beautiful!" Sanji cried, causing everyone to look at him in annoyance.

"Is now really the time?" Kevin asked him.

The woman smiled at Vivi.

"I just met Mr. Eight, Mr. 9, and Ms. Monday over there," she said. "Ms. Wednesday."

Vivi felt her blood run cold. "Did you…kill them?"

"Anyway," Luffy yelled at the woman. "Who allowed you to get on my ship?"

"Why are you here?" Vivi yelled at the woman. "Ms. All Sunday?"

"Who is she?" Nami asked frantically. "Who's her partner?"

Vivi tightened her fists. "Mr. 0."

"What?" Kevin responded. "She's the boss's partner?"

Vivi nodded. "And the only one in the organization who knew the boss's identity. So I followed her and found out as well."

Ms. All Sunday smiled at her. "Actually, I just let you follow me."

"It was a set up," Gwen realized.

Ms. All Sunday directed her smile at Gwen now. "Smart girl."

"But I already knew that," Vivi said. "And you told the boss about me, didn't you?"

Luffy huffed. "So she's a bad person after all."

"What do you want from me?" Vivi demanded from Ms. All Sunday.

"Because I feel that you worked really hard," Ms. All Sunday replied. "So I decided to help you. However, the princess who wants to help her nation and become Baroque Works' enemy is a stupid thing to do."

Vivi was livid at Ms. All Sunday calling her stupid. "Stop insulting me!" she yelled.

The others responded as well. Zoro drew one of his swords, Nami produced a staff seemingly out of nowhere, and Usopp pulled out a slingshot and aimed it at Ms. All Sunday.

Ben decided to take action too and activated the Omnitrix. "Rath might have a few words for you," he said as he switched the dial to Rath and slammed it down. The deck was filled with a flash of green light. Once the light had dissipated, a new creature stood for all to see.

It was six to seven feet tall and looked like it was made out of purple crystal with several black lines and dots along its body. The being's hands and face were magenta, which matched the magenta shards all over its body: six on its back, two on its chest, and one on top of its small, purple head, resembling a horn. It also had one, large, cyclopean eye.

"CHROMASTONE!" The creature yelled. Then it looked at itself. "Oh come on!"

"What in the…?" Sanji cried in shock.

"Aaaaaah!" Usopp screamed. "Rock monster!"

"Eeeeeeh?" Luffy asked. He had a huge smile of excitement on his face and his eyes seemed to look like stars. "Rock monster!"

Unlike the others, Ms. All Sunday was only mildly surprised. "How unique. I've never seen a being like that before. But first…could you all please stop pointing those dangerous weapons at me?"

Zoro's sword, Nami's staff, and Usopp's slingshot all fell out of their owners' hands.

"What was that?" Zoro asked.

"Was it a Devil Fruit?" Gwen suggested.

"What power was that? Telekinesis?" Kevin asked.

Chromastone glared his one eye at her. He raised his hand and prepared to shoot an energy beam.

"Calm down," Ms. All Sunday said. "I haven't received any orders yet so there's no reason to fight you now."

Just then, Luffy's hat flew off his head and went towards Ms. All Sunday, who daintily caught it.

"So, you are the captain," She said looking at Luffy. "Monkey D. Luffy right?"

Kevin snorted in laughter. "Monkey? Is she for real?"

"Give me back my hat!" Luffy yelled angrily at Ms. All Sunday. "You want to mess with me? I know that you are our enemy after all!"

"Why don't you just come and get it now!" Usopp yelled. It would've looked brave if he wasn't hiding behind the mast as he said it.

Ms. All Sunday put Luffy's hat on top of her own. "You are so unlucky to help the princess who is the enemy of Baroque Works. "And you too, princess. You have just a few pirates to take care of you."

Vivi was about to reply when Chromastone stepped in front of her, as if he was shielding her from Ms. All Sunday. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"I beat Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine," Chromastone said to Ms. All Sunday. "I beat the Unluckies. And I can beat you."

"You beat Mr. 5, Ms. Valentine and the Unluckies?" Ms. All Sunday asked him. "All by yourself?" She smiled. "My, you are impressive."

Chromastone growled while narrowing his one eye at her.

"Unfortunately," Ms. All Sunday continued. "Do you have any idea about the island you're heading for? Your next destination is Little Garden. We don't even have to do anything over there and you might…maybe you won't arrive in Arabasta. You will all disappear from this world before you see Crocodile's face."

Gwen created mana around her hands. "That's not gonna happen!" she said.

"Do you think we'll do as what you said?" Luffy retorted at Ms. All Sunday. "Give me back my hat!"

"You idiot!" Usopp yelled. "You really are crazy!"

Zoro sweatdropped. "Why are you hiding?"

Ms. All Sunday took off Luffy's hat and threw it back at Luffy. It spun through the air before somehow landing perfectly on his head. "Stop barking," she said. "Anyone can boast. You knew that you will face many obstacles, but you are still going to go there. You really are crazy."

Vivi noticed that Ms. All Sunday had tossed something in her direction and caught it. She opened her hands and gasped when she saw that it was an Eternal Pose. "An Eternal Pose?" she asked Ms. All Sunday.

"If you have that," Ms. All Sunday said. "You can overcome any obstacle because that Eternal Pose will guide you to Arabasta. Our boss doesn't even know the way to get there, so we can't follow you."

Kevin snorted. "Oh come on. Every kid knows that you don't accept gifts from strangers."

Zoro nodded in agreement. "I think it's a trap."

"I'll let you decide if it's a trap or not," Ms. All Sunday said with smile on her face.

Vivi looked at the Eternal Pose in her hand. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want or need help from a woman like Ms. All Sunday. But she didn't know if this would be more convenient for everyone else. Just then, Luffy snatched the Eternal Pose from her and smashed it in his grip.

"Are you crazy?" Nami yelled as she suddenly kicked Luffy in the face with a high heeled shoe. "She just provided the easy way, but you destroyed it!"

"Come on," Kevin said with a roll of his eyes. "You were actually gonna trust her?"

Luffy on the other hand was glaring up at Ms. All Sunday. "You don't have a right to decide our route!" He yelled at her.

Ms. All Sunday smiled at him. "Really?" She asked. "That's a pity."

A flash of green light happened and Chromastone was back to being Ben. "Just watch us," he said to Ms. All Sunday. "We're gonna make sure that Princess Vivi gets to Arabasta safely. And you'd better be ready for us…cause we're gonna bring you down."

"Are you both crazy?" Nami yelled.

Zoro grinned. "This kid's got spirit."

"Indeed he does," Ms. All Sunday agreed. "And I like men with great spirit. If you are lucky, we shall meet again."

"Who wants to meet you?" Luffy muttered.

Ms. All Sunday then leaped off the ship. Everyone thought she had thrown herself overboard but she was really riding on the back of a giant turtle.

"Let's go, Banchi," Ms. All Sunday said to the turtle. In response, it started swimming away from the ship.

"Wow!" Luffy cried in excitement. "A giant turtle."

"Wow," Gwen breathed as she saw it. "I've never seen one that big aside from Terraspin's species."

Vivi fell to her knees in frustration. "I don't know what that woman is thinking," she admitted.

"Don't think about it," Nami said in an attempt to cheer her up.

"There is one person just like that on our ship too." Zoro said as he leaned against the mast.

"Three guesses who," Kevin joked. He and Zoro chuckled.

"Anyway," Gwen said kindly to Vivi. "Don't let that woman get to you. We're gonna make sure that you get to Arabasta and stop Crocodile."

Vivi looked up at Gwen and smiled softly. "Thank you, Gwen."

"Hold on," Sanji said. "There's one thing I'm curious about." He pointed at Ben. "How'd you turn into that rock thing?"

"Yeah!" Luffy said eagerly. "How'd you do that? Did you eat a Devil Fruit too?"

Ben chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "Well," he said as he rolled up his sleeve so they could see the Omnitrix "This thing is the called the Omnitrix and it…" And so, Ben began his tale of the Omnitrix and what it could do. Paradox had reassured him that he could trust the Straw-hat Pirates with that secret. He could come to trust Paradox's judgment, due to the guy being a traveler of past, present, and future. So, he knew that he could trust the Straw-hats with knowing about the Omnitrix.

* * *

Far away, Ms. All Sunday smiled to herself as she watched the Straw-hats' ship sail away. "First destination," she said. "Little Garden."

 _ **End of Chapter**_

 _ **Next chapter: Rumble in the Jungle**_

 ** _Well that's it for now, as soon as I upload all the chapters I got from Bigby, It's going be my own version from here on out. I'll see you guys next chapter._**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: One Piece and Ben 10 do not belong to me.**_

 _ **Alright, here's the next chapter.**_

 ** _I'm still keeping Mr. Bigby's original nicknames for Ben, Gwen, and Kevin when they get their bounties since I stink think they are fitting names:_**

 ** _Ben "The Legion" Tennyson_**

 ** _"Sorceress" Gwen_**

 ** _"Rockbody" Kevin_**

 ** _Now, I just need help deciding the amount their first and following bounties should be. Kevin and Gwen get theirs in the Enies Lobby Arc along with the rest of the crew. Ben gets his at the end of the Alabasta Arc along with Luffy's updated bounty. I'm guessing he should have the third highest bounty in crew since I personally think that Zoro has earn his spot as the second highest_**

 _ **Alright, on with the chapter!**  
_

* * *

"Yahoo!" Luffy cried out in excitement.

Nami sighed from her beach seat. "Are they still at it?" she asked.

Ever since Ben had revealed about the Omnitrix, which Luffy had labeled as a "mystery gizmo", Luffy looked as if he had just been given birthday presents for his next ten birthdays. Nami remembered when Ben told him that the rock creature "Chromastone" was just one of the things he could turn into. Right now, Ben had turned into a creature that looked like a red stingray that had the ability to fly. Ben had called the form "Jet Ray".

"This is awesome!" Luffy cried as he rode on Jet Ray. The Aerophibian was doing loop de loops around the mast before the two of them gently landed back on the deck. In a flash of green light, Jet Ray turned back to Ben.

"Alright, Luffy," Gwen said. "How about you give poor Ben a break? You've been at this for a while."

"But he's so coooool!" Luffy said. The captain had become extremely fond of Ben and his ability to become different monsters. So far, Ben had showed him Water Hazard, Big Chill, Swampfire, and a tiny white creature called Echo Echo alongside Jet Ray.

"She's right, Luffy," Ben said "Besides, the Omnitrix needs to charge right now. What happens if something happens and I can't use my aliens?"

Luffy pouted and crossed his arms. "I guess that makes sense. Okay! Usopp! Build me a fishing rod!"

"A fishing rod?" Usopp asked. "Sure thing, Luffy."

"A fishing pole huh?" Zoro said as he sat next to the railing. "Sounds interesting."

"Nami-san! Vivi-chan! Gwen-chan!" Sanji cried from the kitchen as he came out, his legs doing some kind of weird noodle dance. "I've made drinks for you." He held up a tray with a variety of drinks.

"Thank you, Sanji," Nami said as she took a cup.

"Yes, thank you, Sanji," Gwen said as she took one too.

It was kind of strange but it seemed that everyone got along so well. Luffy was the captain of the ship despite lacking any actual sea going skills. He had revealed that he had eaten the Gum Gum Fruit, which granted him the ability to stretch his limbs. Luffy mostly hung around Ben and Usopp, who was the sharpshooter. Usopp had tried to pass himself off as the captain but Ben, Gwen, and Kevin already knew that he wasn't. Zoro was the swordsman of the crew. He fought using a unique fighting style called Santōryū, in which he used a sword in each hand while carrying the third one in his mouth. Zoro kept to himself, but had shown interest when Kevin revealed that he could absorb and became steel just as he could become rock. Nami, as she had said, was the ship's navigator who loved treasure. In fact, Nami and Kevin would hang out by discussing things like treasure and money. The two saw each other as kindred spirits. Gwen first was afraid that Kevin would start flirting with Nami, but then she realized that Kevin saw Nami as the sister her never had. This eased her. Sanji was the ship's cook and the meals he'd made were delicious. His food was deeply appreciated by Gwen and Ben, who remembered very well about their grandpa's cooking and were glad to have Sanji's cooking instead. The only problem was that Sanji would try to flirt with Nami, Vivi, and Gwen all at the same time, much to Kevin's chagrin.

As the boys watched Carue try different drinks that Sanji gave him, Ben noticed a troubled look on Vivi's face as she watched them all from the upper deck of the ship. Despite the fact that they had been previously enemies, he had been asked by Igaram to watch over her. Besides, there was nothing wrong with getting to know her. So Ben walked up the stairs and stood beside her.

"Something wrong, Vivi?" he asked.

Vivi sighed before looking at Ben. "Everyone's too relaxed. Don't they understand how serious this is?"

"Well," Ben said. "I just met the Straw Hat crew so I don't know about them. But believe me, Gwen, Kevin, and I are taking this very seriously."

"Don't worry, Vivi," Nami said as she handed the princess a drink. "If something happened, they can work hard because no one wants to die."

Vivi looked back at the others as she took her drink. "That may be right," she said. "But they're too happy."

Nami grinned at her. "Staying on this ship can make you stress free right?"

Vivi looked at her for a bit before looking back at everyone else, who seemed to be having a good time. She allowed herself a small smile. "That's true," she admitted.

"Everyone!" Sanji called. "Look at the dolphin!"

"Wow," Luffy said as he held onto his hat to prevent the wind from blowing it off.

"That's so cute!"

"It's huge!" Kevin cried.

Sure enough, the dolphin was gigantic. It was even bigger than the ship. And when it leaped into the air over the ship, everyone saw that it was time to man their stations.

"Let's run away!" Luffy called with a large grin on his face.

"Aye aye, captain!" the others said. Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp manned the sails.

"Ben!" Sanji called. "Do you have a monster that can give us a boost?"

"Ben!" Gwen shouted, Sanji's question giving her an idead. "Use Terraspin's wind powers on the sails!"

Ben nodded. "You got it!" He activated the Omnitrix and slammed the dial down. In a flash of green light, he became a large, two legged turtle with flippers for hands and holes in his chest.

"TERRASPIN!" the turtle called out in a low tone.

"So cooool!" Luffy cried when he saw Terraspin.

Terraspin grinned. He tucked his head inside of his shell. His body seemed to float off the ground as his legs molded together to created some kind of blade like structure. His arms did the same thing, making him look like a fan. Not that the Straw-hat Pirates knew what a fan was of course. Then, Terraspin's limbs began spinning like fast, circular motion as wind blew out of the holes in his chest. The gust of wind blew the ship with incredible speed.

"That's awesome, Ben!" Nami cheered. "With this, we'll be there in no time!" She looked at the Log Pose around her wrist and studied the needle it was pointing right ahead of them. She looked and could make out mountains in the distance. With Terraspin's wind powers, they would be reaching there soon.

"There it is, everyone!" Nami called to the others. "The second island of the Grand Line."

"Be careful," Vivi said. "I'm worried about Ms. All Sunday said."

"Will there be monsters here?" Usopp asked.

Vivi looked down. "I don't know."

"Judging from the way she talked about this place," Kevin said. "It's got to be dangerous."

"But we have to find more food because we didn't buy anything from the last town," Sanji reminded everyone.

Gwen looked at their surroundings as they sailed through a large river that took them into the heart of the island. Ben had turned back to normal, so they were taking things slowly. Gwen saw that different river banks were lined with large plants and some type of palm trees.

"This doesn't make sense," she said. "Ms. All Sunday called this place Little Garden. It doesn't look anything like a garden."

"Maybe it's a garden to the locals," Kevin said. "Some people have strange tastes. Take Ben for example."

"Hey!" Ben protested.

Nami was looking at the trees. "I've never seen these kinds of trees before."

"I have," Gwen said.

Nami looked at her. "Where?"

"In my history book," Gwen explained. "But these types of plants are supposed to be extinct."

Suddenly a weird noise of some animal echoed through the trees. Nami flinched at the sound and Sanji blushed at her cute little reaction.

"What was that?" Nami asked, looking around for whatever had made that sound.

"You're so cute, Nami-san," Sanji gushed. He pointed to a shape flying behind him. "Don't worry. It's just a bird and this place is just a normal forest. Don't worry."

Luffy looked up at the "bird" Sanji was talking about. What he saw was a lizard with feathery wings. "Is that a gecko?" he asked himself.

Just then another noise was heard. A loud rumbling noise that even caused the ship to shake.

"Is that supposed to be a sound from a normal forest?" Nami asked.

"That sounded like a volcano eruption!" Usopp whimpered.

Just then a tiger ran into the clearing and it was bleeding badly. Nami freaked out.

"This can't be a normal forest!" she cried. "What in the world could take down a tiger?"

Usopp folded his arms and tried to make himself look smart. "I've decided that we will not go down here."

"Uh….correct me if I'm wrong," Kevin said. "But isn't that the captain's job."

"I'll stay here until the Log Pose can memorize the island's frequency," Nami said. "Then we get out of here as soon as possible. We have to hurry up and go to Alabasta."

Ben then noticed that Luffy seemed to be shaking. "Luffy?" he asked. "You okay?"

"Sanji," Luffy said. "Prepare the lunchbox."

Sanji took a look at Luffy, wondering if he had cracked his head or not. "Lunchbox?" he asked as he took a whiff of his cigar.

"Yes," Luffy said. "A pirate's lunchbox. I smell the scent of adventure."

Kevin made a face at Luffy. "Scent of adventure? What are you, four?"

"Hey wait a minute!" Nami yelled at Luffy. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Adventure," Luffy replied as he chuckled. "Do you want to come?"

Nami whimpered. There was no stopping Luffy.

"Sanji," Luffy said, waving his arms excitedly. "Lunchbox."

"Ok, just wait!" Sanji snapped irritably at him.

"Can I go with you?" Vivi asked Luffy.

"Sure, just come!" Luffy said.

"You too?" Nami asked Vivi.

"That's right," Vivi said. "If I don't do anything, I will keep thinking. I want to relax before you can lock onto the frequency. Don't worry because Carue will be with me."

Carue quacked at her in shock and had a look on his poor face that said "Are you out of your mind?"

"Looks like he doesn't want to go with you," Nami said as she sweat-dropped.

"I'll come along then," Ben said. "Carue can stay here if he wants."

"Cool!" Luffy said as he punched the air in excitement. Most likely he was hoping to see more of the monsters Ben could turn into.

"Huh?" Nami whined. "You're supposed to be _my_ bodyguard!"

"Maybe," Ben said. Then he looked grim. "But Igaram had asked _me_ to make sure that Vivi got home safely."

That caused a heavy silence aboard the crew. When Luffy was told that the guy with the rollers had been killed, he was furious towards Ms. All Sunday. And Ben wanted to honor the man's last request by making sure that Vivi got to her home safely.

"Hey, Sanji," he called to the cook. "Is it okay if you make me something too?"

"Sure thing, Ben," Sanji called back. The cook and the wielder of the Omnitrix got along pretty well, aside from the fact that Sanji would like to flirt with his cousin, "And I'll make something for Vivi-chan too."

"Thank you, Sanji," Vivi said, eager to get her mind of Igaram's death.

Once Sanji had finished making the luncboxes for the three, they hopped off the ship.

"Let's go!" Luffy said, punching the air.

"We'll be back!" Vivi called to the rest of the crew. And so, the three wondered into the jungle.

"Ms. Wednesday sure is a brave girl," Usopp said, still trying to get used to her being a princess.

"That's why she can sneak into enemy organizations." Nami agreed.

"Quack!" Carue quakced in agreement.

"I'm also bored," Zoro said, popping his neck. "I think I'll go and take a walk too."

"Take a walk?" Usopp asked him in shock. Trust a guy like Zoro to treat a possibly dangerous area so casually.

"Wait, Zoro!" Sanji called as Zoro hopped off the boat.

Zoro looked back at him. "Huh?"

"There's no food left. Can you hunt for some animal, too?"

Gwen cringed. "Are you serious?" She asked.

Sanji noticed her bothered look. "I'm sorry, Gwen-chan," he apologized. "But we didn't get any supplies from Whiskey Peak and I'm not sure how long it will be till we reach the next island. I don't want anyone to starve. Especially not you, Nami-san, or Vivi-chan."

Kevin scowled. He really hated it whenever Sanji would flirt with Gwen. He wanted to tell the cook guy straight up that Gwen was his girlfriend but he thought that any brash action would upset her. And he didn't want to upset her.

"Fine, I'll do it," Zoro said as he started walking. "Since you're incapable of doing that, I'll hunt something for you."

"Ooh, burn," Kevin snickered.

"Wait a minute!" Sanji yelled angrily, causing Zoro to stop.

"What?" The swordsman asked, looking back at Sanji.

Sanji glared at Zoro while gritting his teeth, threatening to chomp the cigarette in his mouth in half. "Are you saying that you can hunt bigger animals than me?"

"That's right," Zoro replied smugly.

"Okay!" Sanji yelled as he put one of his feet on the railing of the ship. "Why don't we compete then?" he hopped off the ship and started walking towards the jungle too. "Understand? Whoever finds more kilograms of meat will win!"

"Kilograms?" Zoro asked as he went a different direction. "Are you kidding? I'll find more than a ton! I'll wish you luck anyway."

Tears poured from Nami's eyes. "How come all of them are like this?" she weeped.

Usopp, who also had tears in his eyes, nodded. "I completely understand your feelings. Don't cry. I'll be here with you."

"Calm down," Kevin said with a sigh. "Relax, I'm not going anywhere."

"Really?" Gwen asked Kevin. "You don't want to go exploring?"

"No thanks," Kevin said. "Every time we go into a jungle or forest, we run into trouble. I'm taking it easy right now. Besides, someone needs to guard the ship."

"See?" Nami said. "Kevin's got the right idea."

Gwen sighed. "Fine. I'll stay here." While she did admit that Kevin had a point, she was mostly keeping an eye on Nami. She knew that the two saw each other as siblings for right now but she wasn't gonna leave anything to chance. Especially since the two shared a strong love for money.

"Thank you," Usopp said, giving Kevin and Gwen a bow. "I feel so much safer with you two around."

Just then Nami realized something and looked at the ground. "Wait a minute…"

Gwen looked at her. "What's wrong, Nami?"

"It sounds so familiar," Nami said. "I don't know if I have ever read it somewhere before."

"What?" Kevin asked her.

"Little Garden," Nami answered. "It's really familiar."

* * *

"Look!" Luffy called to Ben and Vivi, holding something up.

"What'd you got there, Luffy?" Ben asked.

"This shell looks like an octopus," Luffy said. "I will call it an octopus shell."

Ben and Vivi walked up to Luffy to see what he was talking about. In his hands was a creature that looked like an octopus inside of a snail shell. Ben's eyes widened. He had read about those in a book.

"This is an ammonite," Vivi gasped.

"So, it is an octopus shell, right?" Luffy asked excitedly as he held up the ammonite.

"No, Luffy," Ben told him. "It's not an octopus. It's _like_ an octopus but it's not an actual one."

"Huh?" Luffy looked at Ben in confusion. Then the three heard a rumbling noise behind next to them. They looked up and their jaws dropped. Towering over them was the long neck of what appeared to a gigantic lizard.

"How come there is a sea monster on this island?" Luffy asked, the calmest out of the three.

"Luffy," Ben said slowly. "That's no sea monster."

"It's a dinosaur!" Vivi cried.

"Dinosaur?" Luffy cried happily.

"H…how can there be a dinosaur here?" Ben asked. He considered reaching for his Omnitrix but then he remembered that all the dinosaurs with long necks like this guy were usually plant eaters, and therefore harmless. That still didn't stop him from being absolutely speechless of seeing a real life dinosaur. Sure he became one every time he turned into Humungousaur, but it was still cool to see a real life one.

"This must be an ancient island," Vivi said as she looked up at the dinosaur.

"Eh?" Luffy looked at her.

"Ancient island?" Ben asked.

"Because of the hardness of traveling in the Grand Line, each island will build a unique civilization and maintain that. Where there is a high civilization island, there is also an uncivilized one that hasn't changed for 1,000 years. With the atmosphere of the Grand Line, anything is possible."

"So…you're saying that we're on an island full of prehistoric animals?" Ben asked Vivi.

Vivi nodded. "It looks like it."

"This is so cool!"

Ben and Vivi looked up to see Luffy on the dinosaur's neck.

"Luffy, get down!" Ben yelled. While the long necked dinosaur was a plant eater, he wouldn't mess with something _that_ big. Unless he was Way Big or Humungousaur at full size of course, but he wasn't looking for a fight.

"Who told you to go up there?" Vivi yelled at him.

* * *

"Usopp! Kevin! Gwen! Carue!" Nami cried as she ran out of her room carrying a book. She had been in her room looking for a book about Little Garden.

"Quack?" Carue asked curiously.

"Did you find the book you were looking for?" Gwen asked.

"Emergency!" Nami cried. "This island is…"

"Grrrrrr"

All five froze as they heard that rumbling growl beside them. Slowly they turned their heads to see a looming shadow looking at them from the trees.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

"Quaaaaaaack!"

* * *

In another part of the island, Sanji paused in his walking. "What was that?" he asked himself. "I thought I heard Nami-san and Vivi-chan's duck." Then he heard a snarling behind him and turned to see a Tryannosaurus Rex looming over him, it's jaws wide open to chomp him.

* * *

As for Zoro, he was looking at a Triceratops, who was lowering its horns and Zoro and prepared to charge at him.

"What is this?" Zoro asked himself. "Can we eat it?"

* * *

Back at the ship, Nami and Usopp were all tears when they saw the being towering over them. It was a gigantic man wearing an outfit similar to that of a Viking, complete with a horned helmet. He had a blonde beard and a pig like nose.

"I said," the giant said. "Do you have any rum? Can't you hear me?"

Gwen, who managed to find her voice first, spoke. "Yes," she said calmly. "We do have some rum.

"Oooh," the giant said with a big smile on his face. "Can I have some?"

Gwen blinked at him. "Uh…sure."

"Aaaaaaagh!" the giant suddenly cried. His scream made the ship start tilting and caused Nami,Usopp, and Carue to scream as well. Then, the giant turned around to see a T-Rex with its jaws on his buttocks.

"D…" Usopp tried to say.

"Dinosaur," Nami managed to say instead.

"No way," Kevin said, staring at the T-Rex.

"Quuuuuuack!" Carue cried.

"Wow," Gwen muttered. Paradox said this place was a parallel world but she never imagined something like this. This whole world was like something out of a kid's storybook.

Then, the giant spun around and cleaved the T-Rex's head off with one cleave of the gigantic axe he was holding. Gwen was horrified at the action while Kevin looked like he was about to throw up. Nami and Usopp started screaming again. The giant, on the other hand, was laughing at his accomplishment. "I am the strongest fighter in Elbaf! Broggy the Great!" He looked back at the others. "I have some meat now. I will treat you to a meal, my guests."

Kevin and Gwen stood staring at him. But his words snapped Gwen out of her shock. "Re…really?"

"Of course," Broggy said with that smile on his face. "You said that I could have some of your rum. It's only fair if I treat you generous visitors to a meal as a thank you."

Kevin was on full alert mode now. He put a hand on Gwen's shoulder and whispered to her. "I don't know about this, Gwen. What is this is all a trick?"

Gwen looked at Kevin. "If he wanted to kill us," she whispered. "He would have done it by now." She now looked back up at Broggy. "We would be honored."

"Gebabababababa!" Broggy said heartily. It took Gwen and Kevin a minute to realize he was laughing. "Wonderful!" he looked again. "But it looks like you're friends have fainted."

Raising eyebrows, Kevin and Gwen looked at Nami, Usopp, and Carue. The three did in fact looked like they had fainted. Kevin snorted. "Ignore them. They're just playing possum."

"It's alright, guys," Gwen reassured them.

Slowly, Nami, Usopp, and Carue opened their eyes to look up at Broggy.

"I'm sorry if I started you," Broggy apologized. "I got carried away."

"You can say that again," Kevin muttered, causing Gwen to elbow him.

"Come," Broggy said. "I'll take you over to my place and cook you all a feast."

* * *

Luffy was now on top of the dinosaur's head, taking in the sights. "Wow," he said. "This is a good view. I want to have lunch over here. Oh! There is a volcano too! And over there, what a big hole!"

"Luffy!" Ben called up to him. "I think it's best if you get down from there!" He was still surprised that Luffy was even up there to begin with.

"Ben's right, Luffy!" Vivi shouted. "Even though it's tame, it's still a dinosaur."

"Don't worry," Luffy called down to them. "This guy over here only eats vegetables. I saw him. I don't think he even sees me. Anyway, I see a big hole there!" he pointed to where he saw the hole.

Just then, the dinosaur flicked its head, causing Luffy to flip in the air…and right into the dinosaur's open mouth! Vivi screamed.

"Luffy!" Ben yelled as he activated the Omnitrix. Maybe he could Big Chill's intangibility to get Luffy out.

But he didn't need to. Because a gigantic person came out of nowhere and sliced through the dinosaur's long neck with his sword. Vivi and Ben both stared as Luffy was seen falling from the dinosaur's disembodied neck. He landed in the giant's left hand.

"What a cheerful human you are," the giant said friendly. "I haven't met a person like you for a while."

"Wow!" Luffy cried. "A giant!"

The giant chuckled. "I am Dorry, the greatest fighter in Elbaf."

"He's huge" Ben cried, getting a better look at the giant. He looked like a Viking, complete with a long black beard. His helmet covered his eyes but had hole so that he could see through.

"This is the first time I've seen a giant," Vivi said, looking up at Dorry. "But I thought they were just a legend."

Just then, Dorry looked down at them. "I would like to ask you to come to my house." He said to Ben and Vivi.

Vivi flinched. "He…he saw us."

* * *

Meanwhile, Broggy was cooking the dinosaur meat on an open fire. His home was revealed to be a colossal skull bigger than he was. "The meat is cooked," he said. "Please eat."

"I'm…" Usopp began.

"Not hungry." Nami finished.

Gwen made a face at both of them. They being rude to reject Broggy's offer. Not to mention that it wasn't smart to reject something from a guy as big as him. "Thank you, Mr. Broggy." She said.

"Gebabababababa!" Broggy laughed as he cut some meat and handed it to her. "My pleasure, miss. Eat up, Dinosaur meat is good."

"I'll try some," Kevin said. He figured dinosaur meat couldn't worse than the gruel he had to eat back in the Null Void. He took some meat that Broggy handed it to him and took a bite. He looked at it. "You know," he said. "This stuff is pretty good."

Broggy grinned. "What did I tell you?"

Nami and Usopp didn't know what to think. They were very certain that this giant was just fattening them up so that he could eat them later. But here Kevin and Gwen were, chowing down like they didn't have a care in the world. Well, might as well start a conversation.

"Mr. Broggy," Nami said. "Can I ask you something?"

Broggy looked at her. "Huh? What is it?"

"How long does it take to memorize the magnetic frequency of this island?"

"One year," Broggy replied casually. "Please make yourself at home."

Kevin and Gwen choked on their dinosaur meat while Usopp and Nami collapsed in horror.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dorry had begun cooking the dinosaur he had killed. Like Broggy, his home was the skull of some gigantic beast. Personally, Ben didn't want to meet a creature of that size while it was alive. Dorry and Luffy had done a switch with the food. Luffy was eating the dinosaur meat in exchange for giving Dorry the lunchbox. Ben didn't think of that as a fair trade but Dorry didn't seem to mind.

"This meat is really good, Mr. Giant!" Luffy said as he took a huge bite of it.

"Gegyagyagyagya!" Dorry laughed. "Your lunchbox is good too. But it's just too small."

"It must be good otherwise I'll beat you up," Luffy said with a grin.

Dorry laughed at that. "You are a very interesting person."

Vivi and Ben looked at each other. "They just met and already they're buddies," Ben said.

"I know," Vivi agreed. "It's like they've known each other for years."

"By the way," Luffy said to Dorry. "Why are you alone? Don't you have a village?"

"I have a village," Dorry responded. "It's called Elbaf and it's located somewhere in the Grand Line."

Luffy looked up at him curiously. Dorry had also gotten Ben and Vivi's attention so they perked up their ears.

"We have a rule in our village," Dorry said. "When there's a dispute and neither side will yield...The god of Elbaf decides the matter. Our god protects the one who is right...and lets him live. This island is the place where I fight with another. The right person will become the winner and live."

"That's a death match!" Ben cried out.

"However," Dorry went on. "It's been 100 years and a winner has not been decided."

Luffy stared at the giant. "You fought a hundred years ago?"

Dorry chuckled. "Don't panic. Our lifespan is 3 times greater than a human."

"Even that," Vivi said. "You should have forgotten about the cause by now! What will you get from this fight? That's just another name for murder!"

Ben was about to put his two cents in when a volcano nearby erupted. Dorry started rising to his feet. "I have to go now." He said.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked.

"It's fighting time again," Dorry replied. "A volcano eruption is the signal to start the fight."

"What have you done?" Vivi asked. "Why do you have to fight for 100 years? What is the purpose of this fight anyway?"

Just then, Luffy covered her mouth. "Stop it!" he said. "It's nothing like that."

"That's right," Dorry said as he picked up his sword. "It's about pride."

"Pride?" Ben asked. Then he noticed someone walking towards them. It was Broggy the giant. The two giants lunged at each other, using their shields to block each other's attacks.

"I've already forgotten…" Broggy said.

"What started this fight!" Dorry finished.

Ben made a face. These guys were fighting for something they didn't even remember. That kind of made things pointless really. Just then, Luffy fell on his back. "What's wrong, Luffy?"

"This is…gigantic," Luffy replied.

Ben nodded. "You can say that again." He looked back at the two giants fighting each other.

* * *

Far away, on another island, trouble was brewing.

"Mr. 3?" asked a little girl. She was fairly short with blushed cheeks, and had her hair tied in braided pigtails. Her attire consisted of a pink hat, a dark blue t-shirt with the word "Golden" written on it in orange, a sky blue shirt with a cloud pattern over it, a maroon-colored skirt, and striped stockings covering her legs.

"What?" asked her partner. "Wait just a minute." This man had a much more unusual appearance. He was an average sized man with a rather frail build. He wore lightly tanned pants with a sleeveless striped vest and a red bow tie around his neck. What really stood out was his hair style, which had been made to look like a large number three on top of his head. He took a sip of his drink that he was holding and sighed in content after he finished. "Earl Grey is the best tea ever."

"Why are we so free?" asked the girl. The two of them were sitting a table outside. The whole island they were staying at was a resort island where everyone was relaxing at.

"Why are you complaining anyway?" Mr. 3 asked her. "You don't like to work anyway."

The girl pondered that. "That's true," she admitted.

"Then why don't you just enjoy your free time?" Mr. 3 pointed out. "Stop complaining. It's our right as officer agents to have this special kind of vacation. Besides, would you please quit calling me by my code name in public? Otherwise, people will know that I am Mr. 3."

The girl looked at him. "Is that so?" she asked.

Mr. 3 noticed a piece of paper in his partner's hands. She had been staring at it for some time but he hadn't bothered asking what it was. "You've been looking at that paper for 2 or 3 days now. What is that?"

"Boss's orders," his partner said casually.

"What?" Mr. 3 cried out. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He took the paper and started reading it. "It seems that Mr. 5, his partner, and the Unluckies were all defeated. Hmph. I wish Mr. 2 was the one who got beaten up."

"So you could get a promotion?" his partner asked.

"Someone would have to be pretty stupid to mess with the Unluckies since the boss favors them but there's nothing interesting about Mr. 5 getting beaten up. After all, he's just another person who is proud of his special power too much." He drained his tea in one drink. "Even though he has a powerful skill, he didn't use it wisely. What a waste. Only the perfect criminal can create the perfect crime. We have to teach those people a lesson of being an enemy with our organization."

* * *

Meanwhile, the battle between Dorry and Broggy raged on.

"We both miss home, right? Dorry?" Broggy asked as he took a swing with his axe, only for Dorry to block it with his shield.

"That's why I have to take care of you, so I can go back to Elbaf!" Dorry yelled. He jabbed his sword forward to stab Broggy but Broggy jumped, causing the sword to stab into the mountain that had been behind Broggy instead. He raised his axe and smashed it down on Dorry's head. But when he lifted his axe, he saw that he hadn't cut through Dorry's helmet.

"He…he used his helmet cover himself!" Usopp cried. His eyes were leaking tears and he was holding his hair so tightly it was amazing that he hadn't ripped his hair off yet. "If he missed that, he would have been dead for sure! It's the most outrageous fight! Both of them aim for the death spot of each other."

"And they've been doing this for 100 years?" Nami asked as she watched the two giants fight.

"Do you think we should do something, Kevin?" Gwen asked.

"Are you kidding?" Kevin asked back. "We'd be flatter than pancakes."

"Don't stop them," Usopp said, causing everyone to look at him.

"Why not, Usopp?" Gwen asked him.

"This is a real man's fight," Usopp stated, folding his arms as if to emphasize the point.

"Say what?" Kevin asked.

"Let me explain," Usopp said. "In both of their hearts, there is a flag of pride and both of them think that flags are more important than their own lives. To protect those flags, they have continued fighting for 100 years. Don't you get it? This is a fight of pride and honor as real fighters and real men."

Gwen and Kevin looked at each other before looking back at the two fighting giants.

"Is their pride forth so much more than their lives?" Gwen asked.

Kevin looked at the giants solemnly. "It's the way they want to live their lives, Gwen. I don't anything we'd say or do would make a difference."

"I don't care about that," Nami said as she started walking away. "We'd better get out of here now."

"Why?" Gwen asked. "Don't tell me you still think Broggy's going to hurt you."

"She's got a point, Gwen," Kevin said. "Not about the Broggy thing, but we can't stay here a whole year."

Gwen looked at her shoes in thought. "True," she said.

"I want to stay here a while," Usopp said as he continued watching the fight. "This is exactly what I wanted to be. The greatest warrior of the seas. I want to grow up and be a proud and honorable warrior just like them."

Gwen smiled at Usopp. "I think you can do it, Usopp." She encouraged.

Nami sighed as she sat back down. "You want to be a giant?" She asked.

"Didn't you listen to me?" Usopp yelled at her before looking back at Broggy and Dorry. "If there is a great warrior village, I want to visit that place once in my life."

As for Dorry and Broggy, their fight was getting more intense. The two had knocked each other backwards and sent their weapons flying out of their hands. So the giants charged at each other and bashed their shields in each other's faces.

"This is the 73,466th time," Broggy said weakly.

"We are tied for the 73,466th time," Dorry said.

Both collapsed on their backs and just sat there for a moment. Then Broggy started laughing. "Dorry!" he called. "I've got some rum from my guests. "

"That's great!" Dorry said as he started laughing as well. "I have not drunk for a while. Let me have some."

* * *

Dorry later returned with several barrels of rum. He told Ben, Luffy, and Vivi about Broggy's guests, who were of course none other than Nami, Usopp, Kevin, Gwen, and Carue.

"I guess they like adventure after all," Luffy said as he sat down.

"So this means I received this rum from you, too." Dorry said.

"Um…Mr. Dorry," Vivi said. "You said that that it will take 1 year to memorize a magnetic frequency. Is that true?"

Dorry looked over at her. "You saw all those human skulls over there and you still don't realize this? Most of the people who came here died before their lock could memorize the frequency."

Ben scowled. If that was the case…was Ms. All Sunday actually helping them when she had given them that Eternal Pose? Or had she counted on them doubting her so that they would go to Little Garden? Had they been played?

"Some were eaten by dinosaurs," Dorry explained. "Some died because of heatstroke and starvation. Some came here to kill us. Finally, they all died. It seems that 1 year is too long for a small human."

Vivi held her head in her hands. "What am I going to do to survive for a whole year? I don't know what will happen to my country in that time."

"Mr. Dorry," Ben said as he looked up at the giant. "Isn't there another way?"

"I have an Eternal Pose that will lead to Elbaf, my hometown," Dorry said. "Broggy and I are fighting for that pose. Whoever wins gets it. Do you want to try and get it from me?"

"No," Luffy replied. "Because we don't want to go there. We just want to the next island." He looked at Vivi. "Right?" he asked.

Vivi nodded. "If we can't get to Alabasta, it will mean nothing to us."

Dorry threw back his head and laughed. "Then why don't you just take a risk?" he suggested. "If you are lucky, you will arrive there."

Ben made a face. "Isn't that a little too risky?"

Luffy started laughing as well. "That's true," He said to Dorry. "Why don't I do that then? We will arrive there anyway."

Dorry laughed alongside him. "You're really funny."

Ben and Vivi exchanged looks with each other. They didn't find this to be very funny.

* * *

"A great warrior?" Broggy asked after Usopp told him his dream. "What do you mean?"

"It means that one day, I'll be like you," Usopp said proudly.

"Be a giant?" Broggy asked curiously.

"No!" Usopp yelled. Kevin, Nami, and Carue, who had kept quiet until now, all laughed at him. Gwen gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I want to live with pride," Usopp told Broggy as he pounded his own chest. "And honor like the warriors of Elbaf."

Broggy threw back his head and laughed, impressed by Usopp's words. "Really?" he asked. "My lifespan is greater than yours, so I expected to die with pride. All the treasure in the world is nothing."

"Say what?" Kevin asked, shocked by the words of the giant.

"Treasure in the world is nothing," Broggy said. "But pride is forever! If I can choose, I want to die pride. As the law of Elbaf goes; "Pride and honor are the treasures that last forever"."

Usopp smiled. "Pride and honor are treasures."

* * *

Nearby, Ben, Luffy, and Vivi all watched in shock as a huge cloud of smoke erupted from Dorry's mouth after he had taken a swig of rum.

"What happened?" Ben cried.

"The rum exploded?" Luffy exclaimed.

"Luffy!" Ben said. "What was in that rum?"

Dorry fell over backwards, causing the other three to panic.

"Mr. Giant!" Luffy cried.

"Mr. Dorry!" Vivi cried.

Ben reacted first and ran over to the giant's head to see if he was alright. He could hear breathing coming from Dorry which meant he was still alive at least.

"Luffy," He said. "Did you know that rum would explode?"

"Of course not!" Luffy said. "I thought it was just ordinary rum."

"The rum exploded inside the body," Vivi said. "That's a very dirty trick! Did the other giant put the bomb in the rum?"

"I doubt it," Ben replied. "They've been fighting for a hundred years now. If the other giant wanted to fight dirty, he wouldn't have waited this long to do it."

"Then who did it?" Vivi asked, as if she thought Ben had all the answers.

"It must be you!"

Ben, Vivi, and Luffy all turned to see Dorry back on his feet. He coughed before saying "This is not Broggy's work. We are proud warriors of Elbaf. Besides you, I don't suspect anyone else."

"Let's get out of here!" Vivi called to Ben and Luffy. "He won't listen to anyone now."

"It's worthless to try and escape," Luffy said. He took off his hat and handed it to Ben. "Can you hold on to this…and get out of my way?"

Ben and Vivi stared at him. "Luffy, you're not seriously going to fight him are you?" Ben asked.

"The size is too different!" Vivi cried.

Luffy ignored them as he took a fighting stance to face Dorry. "Sorry, mister. But I have to put you to sleep."

"Ben, stop him!" Vivi cried.

Ben responded by handing Luffy's hat to Vivi and activating the Omnitrix. If he let Luffy try to fight Dorry, he might get creamed. Fortunately, Ben had someone in his Omnitrix that stood a chance. Finding the right alien, he slammed the dial down.

Dorry and Luffy's attention was brought to the flash of green light that came from the Omnitrix. When the green light cleared, Luffy, Dorry, and Vivi all stared in shock. Standing before them was a twelve foot tall muscularbrown humanoid dinosaur with strong arms, hard scales, and a face that meant business.

"HUMUNGOUSAUR!" the being boomed.

"Eeeeeeeeh?" Vivi cried.

"Ben!" Luffy cried excitedly. His eyes were shinning like stars. "You never told me you could turn into a dinosaur!"

"What is this?" Dorry asked as he looked at Humungousaur. "What kind of dinosaur are you?"

"Listen to me," Humungousaur said as he grew to his full size, in a matter of seconds he grew up to 60 ft. tall. As his did, his dinosaur features become more pronounced, which showed by him growing Stegosaur-like plates on his back, a crest from his forehead, and spikes on his tail. Also three plates separated and grew on his elbows. Altogether, he looked very ferocious. "We had nothing to do with that explosive rum."

Dorry ignored Humungousaur as he raised his sword and shield. "Don't try to deceive me!" he yelled as he swung his head. Either with great skill or dumb luck, Humungousaur managed to catch the blade with his hands. But Dorry took advantage of that to slam his shield into Humungousaur's stomach. The blow sent Humungousaur tumbling backwards while clutching his stomach in slight pain. He looked up and saw that Dorry had flinched a little in pain as well. He saw this as his opportunity and lunged at Dorry. The giant hadn't expected such a move and found himself pinned against the gigantic skull behind him. Humungousaur pinned his arms down so that he couldn't use his sword or shield.

"Will you just listen?" Humungousaur asked. "It wasn't us!"

Dorry didn't respond in a verbal sense. He was too angry for that. So instead he responded by bashing his helmeted head into Humungousaur's face. Humungousaur grunted in pain and staggered back from the blow. This caused him to remove his hands from Dorry's arms. Dorry swung his shield against the side of Humungousaur's head with enough force that sent the giant alien crashing into the ground.

"Ben!" Vivi cried out in concern. Luffy was too stunned by seeing that his friend was a giant to do anything.

Dorry then raised his sword to cut Humungousaur down. Luckily, he got his wits together and rolled out of the way in time. Dorry's sword struck the ground instead of his opponent's flesh. But Humungousaur noticed blood coming out of Dorry's mouth after the blow. The sight made him cringe. If he didn't end this fight quickly, Dorry was going to do as much harm to himself as he would to Ben. Humungousaur swung his spiked tail and struck Dorry in his face, which caused him to fall backwards and bang his head against his home behind him. The combined blows were too much for the injured giant and he crumbled down to the ground. With that out of the way, Humngousaur touched the Omnitrix dial on his chest and turned back to normal.

"Ben!" Luffy cried, looking at Ben like he was the coolest thing in the world. "That was so cool!"

"Uh…yeah," Ben replied.

"Was that the only thing you paid attention to?" Vivi asked with a sweat drop coming down her head.

"So coooooool," Luffy said, acting as if Ben was his hero.

"Ben!" Vivi said, running up to him. "Are you alright.

"Hey, Vivi," Ben said but looking at Dorry. "I'm fine but is he going to be okay?"

"I think so," Vivi said as she looked at Dorry. "But if you hadn't fought him, he wouldn't have stopped."

Ben sighed as he looked at the ground. Sure it might have been necessary but that didn't make him feel better about it.

Luffy's face was grim as he put his hat back on his head. "I am very upset about this."

Ben looked at him. "What's up, Luffy?"

"Another giant was not responsible for that rum," Luffy said. "And our friends wouldn't do that for sure!"

Ben's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying that...?"

"There must be someone else," Luffy said. "On this island."

* * *

And two of those people were none other than Ben's latest enemies Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine. They were walking through the forest towards what appeared to be a house made out of wax. A dinosaur that looked like a two legged crocodile, who had tried to bite into it, was studying the house curiously before it noticed its new company.

"Get out of my way, you stupid, over sized lizard." Mr. 5 said to the dinosaur.

Ms. Valentine leaped into the air above the dinosaur. "Leave that to me. 10,000 kilograms weight!" She fell right on the dinosaur's head and smashed it into the ground. Ms. Valentine then stood up and started walking towards the wax house. Mr. 5 opened the door and the two of them walked in.

Inside was furniture made out of wax with a table in the center. A table cloth, a tea pot, and several tea cups laid on top. Sitting in a chair with a tea cup in his hand was none other than Mr. 3. His partner was sitting against the wall, possibly asleep.

"Hi," Mr. 3 greeted. "You are back so soon, Mr. 5?"

"You really are skilled to build a house in the middle of this forest," Mr. 5 said as he faced Mr. 3. "However, let me tell you something. This job is still ours so you'd better not get involved."

"Because we won't lose again," Ms. Valentine said as she closed the door.

Mr. 3 snorted at the two of them. "Lose? I don't think so. You're just weak."

Mr. 5 snarled at him. "What did you say?"

"We just underestimated the guy," Ms. Valentine said. "That's all. We didn't expect a guy like that to be protecting the princess."

"Right," Mr. 3 said as he took another sip out of his tea. "The mysterious "shapeshifter" you reported about."

"Shapeshifter?" Mr. 5 asked.

"You reported that you were stopped by a boy with a green jacket that had the number 10 on it. In your report, you described him having the ability to turn into some kind of plant monster. However, the orders from our boss say differently."

"What do you mean?" Ms. Valentine asked.

"According to the Unluckies, they were attacked by what appeared to be a blue moth man," Mr. 3 said. "And Ms. All Sunday herself encountered the boy that matched your description. Only…he didn't turn into a plant monster. According to her, he became some kind of purple rock creature."

"What?" Ms. Valentine asked in shock. "How could one boy turn into all these different monsters?"

"The boss doesn't care how," Mr. 3 said. "But he wants the boy eliminated. Since you came here, we will give 30% of our work to you." Then his eyes narrowed. "If you won't accept the job, I will make both of you disappear from this world right now."

Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine both glared at Mr. 3, who then chuckled as he poured tea into two cups. "You don't have to be so serious about it. Here! Have some tea! This is a very special occasion because on this island, we have another big job to take care of too."

"A job?" Ms. Valentine asked curiously.

"I thought you saw that already," Mr. 3 commented. "I should thank both of you for giving me a chance to come to this island. Look at this wanted poster. I was surprised at first."

Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine noticed that there was a wanted poster on the table. The poster had pictures of Dorry and Broggy on it.

"This list is from 100 years ago," Mr. 3 explained. "When the giant pirates were creating turmoil around the world. The two leaders of these groups of pirates are those two giants that live on the island. They were known as Blue Giant Dorry and Red Giant Broggy. But now that's history. Right now, both of them are living here on this island."

Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine gasped when they realized what Mr. 3 was talking about with this.

"The Marines still want them," he told them. "Both of them are worth 200 million beri. Which means each of them is worth 100 million beri."

"200 million beri?" Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine both exclaimed.

"So, do you realize how huge this job is?" Mr. 3 asked them. "If we can accomplish our goal and get that 200 million beri, we'll all get promotions."

"So that's why you wanted me to put a bomb in the rum," Mr. 5 realized.

"That's right," Mr. 3 confirmed. "If we don't use trickery, we can't beat them."

Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine stared at Mr. 3 in amazement.

"As long as you follow my orders," Mr. 3 said. "Everything should be okay. If you know how to adapt your strategy, you can beat anything."

* * *

The volcano boomed throughout the island, meaning only one thing. Broggy noticed it and chuckled as he started to get back to his feet. "The fight will begin soon," he said. "This is a good day."

"You're fighting again?" Gwen asked Broggy. "But what about your injury?"

"Don't be silly," Broggy told her. "We both got hurt last time. Both of us risk our lives on this fight. We don't use any lame excuses to postpone it."

Kevin cringed. "Talk about overkill."

"I'm with you," Nami agreed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ben, Luffy, and Vivi were trying to talk Dorry out of fighting.

"Don't do it," Ben said to the giant as he started pushing himself up from the ground. "You're way too injured."

"You should take a rest," Vivi told the giant. "Otherwise you will die."

Dorry continued to rise. "I'm a warrior," he said as he wheezed slowly. "At least I have to fight in the honor of Elbaf."

* * *

"Go and get him, teacher Broggy!" Usopp called.

"Sure!" Broggy called back as he started walking to where he and Dorry would fight. "I will crush him down this time. Gebababababa!"

Nami sighed as the giant walked away. "Why do they have to continue this stupid fight?" she asked.

"Don't call their fight stupid!" Usopp yelled at her.

"Dude," Kevin said. "They've been fighting for a hundred years nonstop and they don't even remember what started it. Kinda stupid if you ask me."

Usopp grit his teeth at Kevin's words.

"Anyway," Nami said. "Let's go back to ship. Since it would take us a whole year to memorize the frequency, we'd better wait for everyone to try and find the way out."

"Sounds good to me," Kevin said. "I don't want to wait a whole year here."

"Quack!" Carue said as if in agreement.

"Besides," Gwen said. "Who knows what's going to happen to Arabasta if we don't get Vivi home."

"Say," Kevin said. "Didn't Broggy say Luffy and the others were with the other giant? Let's go get them."

"Sounds good to me," Nami said. "Then we can look for Zoro and Sanji."

Usopp, on the other hand, was staring off into the sky with a determined look on his face. "One day," he said. "Even if I have to lose everything or face death alone on an isolated island, I will die with pride and my last words will be "I am Usopp, the great warrior of the Seven Seas! That's what I hope."

Rolling her eyes, Nami grabbed Usopp's bag and started dragging him away. "Come on," she said.

Gwen and Kevin looked at each other and saw that they both were having trouble keeping a straight face on as they headed off with Carue in the direction where Ben and the others were at.

* * *

"Mr. Luffy!" Vivi cried. Luffy was trapped under the gigantic skull that was Dorry's home. He had tried pinning Ben down but Ben rolled out of the way in time as he got Luffy by accident.

"Hey!" Luffy yelled. "What are you doing? Are you nuts? Take this thing off me!"

"Why are you doing this?" Ben asked Dorry, ready to turn back into Humungousaur in case he needed to.

"I can't stop," Dorry said, indicating the fight between himself and Dorry. "Even though it's been 100 years and we are still fighting. When we begin it, it means we can't escape from it. Otherwise it will mean that we are escaping from being true warriors. If I lose this feeling, I won't be myself anymore." He started to walk away. "I'm sorry to have suspected you."

"This the judgment from the Warrior God of Elbaf. Elbaf does not protect me anymore. That's all."

"Hold on!" Ben tried to reason with the giant. "You're injured from wounds that Broggy didn't give you. You keep talking about honor and pride. If you do lose, do you think Broggy would be happy with a victory that he didn't really earn?"

"He's right!" Luffy yelled. "There's someone else involved in this fight! And that's not fair!"

"Shut up!" Dorry snapped at them. "You were born 10 or 20 years ago. You don't know anything. Have you ever heard of the highest honor in Elbaf?"

"I don't care about that!" Luffy yelled as he started punching the giant skull on top of him. "Take this thing off me!"

Ben looked back and forth between Dorry and Luffy. While he wanted to stop Dorry from this suicidal mission, he knew that he needed Luffy's help.

"Hold on, Luffy," Ben said as he activated the Omnitrix. "If Dorry can lift that thing, then Humungousaur should be able to." He switched the dial to Humungousaur and slammed it down.

When the flash of green light went away, Vivi and Luffy expected to see Humungousaur but instead saw someone or something else. It looked like a large, bulky, reddish-brown creature with rocky skin, a giant mouth and a molten lava planet core at the center of his body. His feet were tan with three toes. He had three fingers and one thumb on each hand. He wore black shorts with green stripes and a green belt with white stripes. He wore the Omnitrix symbol on his forehead..

"GRAVATTACK!" the creature shouted before looking at himself and frowning.

Luffy, despite being pinned down by the giant skull, had his face light up instantly as he saw Gravattack. "Another rock creature?!" he asked with glee.

"Yeah," Gravattack grumbled. "I was going for Humungousaur but Gravattack will have to do."

"Are you sure?" Vivi asked. "Even though you've gotten bigger, I don't know if you can lift it."

Gravattack grinned at her. "Just watch me."

"Hold on, Luffy," Gravattack said as he held out his hands, "I'll get you out of there." In a matter of seconds the giant skull was lifted from the ground.

"So coooool!" Luffy gasped.

* * *

As for Dorry, he had managed to control his breathing and did his best to hold his head up as proud as he could as Broggy walked over to him.

"Dorry!" Broggy called to his old friend. 'How was the rum? You really enjoyed it right?"

"That's right!" Dorry called back. "It was very tasteful!"

* * *

Back at Dorry's "home", Gravattack had managed to lift the skull up long enough for Luffy to crawl out of and Luffy did not look thrilled. Gravattack touched the dial on his chest to turn himself back to normal.

"What's wrong, Luffy?" he asked.

"I just got a chance to meet a true warrior," Luffy said quietly. "But…" then he turned angry. "Who did this?"

Ben's face darkened as he looked at the ground. "I don't know, Luffy. But we **_are_ ** going to find out."

* * *

"During a fight," Mr. 3 said as he continued explaining his plan to his co-workers. "If you're not concentrating, you will lose. Right now, their concentration is running all because of the bomb from the invisible enemy. Our first target is Blue Giant, Dorry. I knew that bomb couldn't kill him. However, it should have some effect on him from the inside. There won't be any trouble taking care of him.

Besides, this is a good time because they are just starting to fight! They are just silly fighters after all! As long as we don't have a face-to-face fight with them, everything should be fine. As for everyone who learned about the boss's secret, we will lure them into a trap. Beginning with the most stupid one, they all will receive a full service from me." Mr. 3 grinned. "My principal is evasion criminal. I have many plans to take care of my enemies without doing it myself."

* * *

"This is bad," Zoro said as he looked around. He was dragging the triceratops he had killed to take back to the ship. Unfortunately…

"I must be lost," Zoro said as he looked at a tree. "I think I saw this tree before. The tree with liana covered around it." He was aware of someone else nearby and saw who appeared to be Nami leaning against a tree. He grinned. "Hey, Nami. I was just wondering about how to get back to the ship." He dragged the triceratops over to her. "By the way, what are you doing out here?"

Nami did not reply.

"Hey! Nami?" Zoro asked in confusion.

* * *

"Dinosaur!"

The real Nami, Usopp, Carue, Kevin and Gwen were running like mad, as they happened to stumble upon some more of the local wildlife. Usopp and Carue had somehow managed to run faster than the rest and was soon gone from sight.

"How in the world does a guy that scrawny run so fast?" Kevin said as he stopped to catch his breath.

"I don't know," Gwen said as she panted too. "But I think we're safe now."

"I can't believe this," Nami groaned. Then she turned her head and saw what appeared to be Luffy waving over to her. "Luffy!"

"Huh?" Kevin and Gwen saw where she was looking and walked over to "Luffy".

"Boy are we lucky to see you," Nami said as she got closer to "Luffy". "What are you doing here?"

Luffy didn't say anything. He just stood there with his arm in the air with a grin frozen on his face. Then something happened. Something that caused Nami to scream to the heavens.

* * *

And it was that scream that snapped Usopp and out of his running daze. Confused, he looked back and saw that he was by himself. Not even Carue was with him anymore.

"Na…Nami? Carue? Kevin? Gwen?" Usopp asked quietly before yelling. "Nami! Carue! Kevin! Gwen! Where are you?" When no answer came, he began to cry. "This is bad." And then he took off running again, looking for the only two people who could help him. "Luffy! Ben!"

Ben and Luffy, who were debating about what to do next, heard someone screaming their names and turned just in time to see Usopp collide face first with a boulder. Ben blinked in confusion at the sight.

"Uh…Usopp?" he asked.

Usopp pulled himself from the boulder and looked at Ben, Vivi, and Luffy. "We're in big trouble!" he cried. "Nami, Kevin, Gwen, and Carue were eaten by a dinosaur!"

"What did you say?" Ben exclaimed.

"Carue?" Vivi asked.

"Is that true?" Luffy demanded.

"We were running out of the jungle and suddenly they disappeared," Usopp said as he broke down into tears. "What am I going to do? I let my friends die!"

"Usopp, hold on," Ben said. "You didn't actually see a dinosaur eat them did you?"

"Well no," Usopp admitted. "But what else could have happened?"

"I wonder…" Ben said. Then his eyes lit up. "Hold on. Exploding rum…the others disappearing." His eyes narrowed. "It has to be Baroque Works."

"Exploding rum?" Usopp asked. "What exploding rum?"

"Some of the rum Dorry drank exploded," Ben said. "And he's off to fight Broggy if he isn't already fighting him now."

"What?" Usopp cried. "Both of them have risked everything in this fight for 100 years and they always draw. And this fight will end because of that underhanded reason?"

* * *

Dorry blocked Broggy's axe with his sword but it put a lot of strain in him. And Broggy noticed this.

"What's wrong with you, Dorry?" Broggy asked. "You are not acting well today."

"What are you talking about?" Dorry asked. "I'm acting usual."

Behind a tree, watching the whole battle, was none other than Mr. 3.

"Blue Giant Dorry is really strong," Mr. 3 observed. "Maybe I should lend them a hand."

Dorry suddenly felt his balance fall as his foot slipped on some kind of slippery substance that he stepped in. Whatever it was, it made him fall back, just in time for Broggy to make his next attack.

"Got-cha, Dorry!" Broggy yelled in triumph. And with that, he brought his axe slashing diagonally down Dorry's side. Blood erupted from Dorry's wound.

* * *

Nearby, Ben, Usopp, Vivi, and Luffy all noticed a giant pillar of blood shoot up above the trees. It could only mean one thing.

"Oh no," Vivi gasped.

"Dorry," Ben said quietly. He clenched his fists tightly in anger.

Luffy trembled with rage. "Who did this?" He roared. "Show yourself!"

* * *

Far away, Luffy's cry was heard by Mr. 3 and his partner.

"Mr. 3," the little girl said. "Did you hear something?"

Mr. 3 laughed. "That's very strange," he said he drank some tea. "How can we hear a loser's cry in the middle of the jungle?"

Broggy stood over Dorry, who had collapsed from the wound Broggy had given him. "We've fought 73, 467 times," Broggy said as he began to cry. "And I won once." He started walking away, but he did not stop crying.

"Are you crying because you are happy?" a voice asked. Broggy turned around to see Mr. 3 leaning against a tree with a cup of tea in his hands. "You have easily won over that guy. Anyway, I should thank you."

Broggy glared at Mr. 3. "Crying because of happiness?" he asked. "What do you know? Who are you?"

Mr. 3 smiled at him as his partner came into view. "I'm Mr. 3. Sorry, I'm just a regular artist. And this is my partner, Ms. Golden Week. She's a portrait artist." Mr. 3 looked up at Broggy. "Anyway, you've been captured by me."

Broggy raised an eyebrow at him until he realized that his feet were encased in some kind of white substance that had hardened, preventing him from moving.

* * *

"I'm gonna find whoever did this," Luffy said angrily, his whole body shaking with rage.

Ben nodded as he put his hands in his pocket. "I'll help you, Luffy."

"No need to find us,"

Ben and Luffy looked in the direction of the voice. Ben's eyes widened before they hardened. "You two!"

Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine stood beside a badly injured Carue. "I want to return this thing to you because it's not necessary anymore." Mr. 5 said, indicating Carue. Beside him, laughed.

"Carue!" Vivi cried in anguish over her injured duck. "Why? Why did you hurt Carue? He didn't do anything to you!"

"Who are they?" Luffy and Usopp both asked.

Ben glared ahead. "Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine," he answered. "Two agents of Baroque Works."

"You're right," Mr. 5 said to Vivi. "That bird didn't do anything." He looked over at Ben now. "The most dangerous one is that kid over there. You're always with him , so to separate you two from him, we tried to make this bird cry for your help."

Ben clenched his teeth. "You mean you tortured him?" he asked, his voice low and angry.

"But that bird really ticked me off," Mr. 5 said aggravated.

"No matter what we did," Ms. Valentine said. "He wouldn't cry. Silly bird."

"You!" Vivi said angrily.

"Let me guess," Ben said. "You're the ones who put that bomb in the rum, didn't you?"

"Yes," Mr. 5 said. "So what?" he looked over at Luffy and Usopp. "Are those two on the list?"

"No, but they're two of their friends, so we'd better kill them too." Ms. Valentine said.

"You destroyed the honor of those giants' battle!" Usopp yelled at them.

"You did this!" Luffy yelled. "I'll crush you into the ground!"

"Prepare to die!" Vivi cried, pulling out two blade tipped wires that were attached to rings around her pinkies.

"Leave this to me," Ben said as he activated the Omnitrix. "I beat these guys before and I'll do it again."

Mr. 5 snarled at Ben. "You got lucky last time," he said. "It won't happen again."

"Oh yeah," Ben said as he scrolled through his aliens. "Well, I think Big Chill might have something to say about that." He slammed the dial down. But the creature that he turned into wasn't Big Chill. It was a small, blue furred monkey with four arms and eyes.

"SPIDERMONKEY!" the creature cried in a high pitched voice. "Will you knock that off?" he yelled at the Omnitrix dial on his chest.

Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine both laughed at this new transformation. "And here I thought he was going to turn into something scary," Ms. Valentine.

"What are you going to do with a monkey, kid?" Mr. 5 mocked. "Throw poop at us?"

"Don't tempt me," Spidermonkey said as he narrowed all four eyes at his opponents.

Mr. 5 picked his nose and pulled out a booger. "Nezpalm Cannon!" he cried, flicking the bullet at Spidermonkey.

Remembering that Mr. 5's boogers were explosive, Spidermonkey jumped to the side but felt a gust of wind as the booger whizzed past him and hit the skull behind him. The booger exploded and took a nice chunk out of the skull.

"What?" Usopp cried. "How did he...?"

"Mr. 5 ate the Boom Boom Fruit," Vivi explained. "He can turn any part of his body explosive."

"10,000 kilogram weight!" Ms. Valentine yelled as she plummeted towards Spidermonkey, who barely managed to roll out of the way in time.

"Hold on, Ben!" Vivi cried as she ran towards Ms. Valentine with her wire blades. But then Mr. 5 appeared next to her and stuck out his leg. The moment Vivi's leg collided with his, a small explosion happened that made Vivi flip into the air. As she fell back to the ground, Mr. 5 caught her by grabbing her neck.

"Let her go!" Luffy yelled as he pulled back his fist. "Gum Gum Pistol!" his arm shot forward and got Mr. 5 right in the gut. And the blow sent him flying backwards. At least he let Vivi go when he went flying.

"Mr. 5!" Ms. Valentine cried out in concern. She glared at Luffy. "Why you…"

"Forgetting someone?"

Ms. Valentine to see Spidermonkey smiling at her before raising his tail and pointing it at her face. Ms. Valentine only had enough time to raise her eyebrow before webbing shot out of Spidermonkey's tail and got her right in the face. She began screaming but it was muffled by the webbing. She instantly began clawing at the webbing to try and free her face but no luck.

"Hey, Luffy!" Spidermonkey called. "Want to see a cool trick?" Then with incredible strength for a being of his size, Spidermonkey pulled on the webbing that connected from his tail to Ms. Valentine's face, which made Ms. Valentine soar towards him. Spidermonkey began spinning the webbing, and Ms. Valentine around and around. "It's called…Around the World!"

Spidermonkey gave her one last spin before letting go and sent Ms. Valentine flying by detaching the webbing from his tail. The Baroque Works agent crashed into a nearby tree. When she tried to weakly get up, Spidermonkey shot more webbing from his tail that encased her whole body. Then he walked up to her and yanked the webbing off her face with ease. Ms. Valentine took grateful gasps of air before seeing Spidermonkey right in front of her. She squeaked in fright.

"Are there any other Baroque Works agents on the island?" Spidermonkey asked. Ms. Valentine gulped.

"Nezpalm Cannon!"

"Huh?" Spidermonkey looked up in front of him only to be caught in a massive explosion.

"Ben!" Vivi, Luffy, and Usopp cried.

The smoke cleared to reveal a badly injured Spidermonkey collapse. His fur was blackened from the explosion. He was weakened but still alive. In a flash of green light, he turned back into Ben.

Mr. 5 walked into the clearing. "That was quite a punch," he said as he rubbed his stomach. "I thought I was going to go flying right off the island."

"Mr. 5!" Ms. Valentine cried in relief at seeing her partner.

Luffy's eyes were full of rage. He pulled both arms back now. "Gum Gum…"

"Nezpalm Cannon!" Mr. 5 yelled, shooting a booger at Luffy, which made him explode too.

"Luffy!" Vivi cried. She tried to move when Mr. Five grabbed her again.

"You're not going anywhere," Mr. Five said. "We won't kill you. Mr. 3 wants you alive."

Vivi's eyes widened. "Mr. 3?"

"You jerk!"

Mr. Five turned around to see Luffy, despite being blown up, still ticking. "How did he…"

But he never got to finish his sentence as Luffy slammed his fist into Mr. 5's face. The blow sent Mr. 5 smacking into the ground. Luffy pulled his fist back to show a large fist imprint on Mr. 5's cheek now. While Mr. 5 wasn't dead, he was going to be out for a long time.

"Thank you, Luffy," Vivi said.

Luffy looked back at Ben, who Usopp was helping get back up to his feet.

"Are you alright, Ben?" Usopp asked.

Ben groaned. "I'm fine," he said. He rubbed his head. "Why couldn't the Omnitrix have turned me into Swampfire, Bloxx, or Goop?"

Ms. Valentine was now whimpering in fear. She had just seen Luffy send Mr. Five flying with ease. Not only that, but she had seen his arms stretching. He possessed a Devil Fruit like they did. Those two boys, the straw-hat boy and the monster boy, might be the most dangerous team ever.

"What do we do with her?" Usopp asked, pointing towards the tied up Ms. Valentine.

"I guess we better take her with us," Ben said. "We can't just leave her out here to die."

"Ben, she just tried to kill you," Vivi reasoned.

"Maybe," Ben admitted. "But leaving her out here to die wouldn't make me feel better." He walked over to Ms. Valentine and picked her up by the webbings her body was encased in.

"Ben," Vivi said. "Mr. 5 said Mr. 3 is on the island."

"Mr. 3?" Ben asked her.

"A man with the power of the Wax Wax Fruit," Vivi explained. "He and his partner, Ms. Golden Week are an art themed team. And Mr. 3 is credited for his intellect among the Baroque Works agents."

Ben looked at the ground and then back at Ms. Valentine, who flinched as Ben looked at her.

"Is there anyone else?" he asked.

"No!" Ms. Valentine shook her head to emphasize her answer. "He and his partner, Ms. Golden Week, are the only other ones besides me and Mr. 5. It was all Mr. 3's idea. He made us put the bomb in the rum and help him capture your friends…"

"What?" Luffy roared. "Where are the others?"

"Mr. 3 has them all," Ms. Valentine said. "He wanted us to bring the princess to him before he did anything to tell them. He also wanted to get rid of the giants so we could collect their bounty too. That's the truth! Honest!"

"And where is Mr. 3 now?" Ben asked.

"He's with the giants," Ms. Valentine answered. "I promise I'm not lying."

Ben looked at her. "You know what?" he said. "Stay here a while." He put Ms. Valentine down and sat her up against the giant skull.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Ms. Valentine yelled. "Don't leave me like this!"

Ben looked at Luffy, who shared a knowing nod with him. "Vivi, Usopp," he said. "Keep an eye on her and take care of Carue for us."

"Got it, Ben!" Usopp said, giving the wielder of the Omnitrix a salute.

"What about you?" Vivi asked. "Where are you going?"

"We'll come back," Ben said as he and Luffy started walking to where the giants had fought. "After we take care of Mr. 3."

* * *

Meanwhile, Mr. 3 had succeeded in pinning down Broggy and encasing the majority of his body in wax.

"You'd better not move," Mr. 3 said to him. "My candle jacket is stronger than rock." Chuckling, Mr. 3 created some wax from his hand and made it into a likeness of Broggy's face. "Even though a giant has a lot of power, he can't do anything when he's tied up! You dropped your guard when you were happy with that victory, Red Giant Broggy."

Broggy glared at Mr. 3, who made it humorous.

"Don't look at me like that," Mr. 3 mocked. "I'm so afraid of you." He laughed. "Isn't that good that you have a chance to know the result of this long right? Even though your victory came from the help of one human. What do you think?"

Broggy's eyes widened. "You! Does that mean…?"

Mr. 3 smirked at him. "After all, the winner is me! Did you know that both of you are still worth a lot?"

"You!" Broggy yelled.

"Mr. 3!"

Mr. 3 froze when he heard someone call his name. And he knew that it wasn't Mr. 5 or Ms. Valentine. He turned around and his eyes widened in shock.

Standing before him were two boys. One had a straw-hat on his head. He believed this was the boy with the wanted poster of 30,000,000 beri on his head. And standing beside him was a boy with a green jacket that bore the number ten. The one who had defeated the Unluckies and Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine.

"Mr. 3," Ben said as he activated the Omnitrix. "We've got a bone to pick with you."

 _ **End of Chapter**_

 _ **Next chapter: Rumble in the Jungle Part 2  
**_

* * *

 _ **AN: Yeah, I made some changes to this chapter such as having Humungousaur fight Dorry instead of Way Big considering how he's far bigger than any average giant in One Piece. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next time.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**_Disclaimer: Ben 10 and One Piece do not belong to me_  
**

* * *

Ben and Luffy both glared at Mr. 3, who was initially shocked at the presence of the two boys.

"You're gonna pay for what you did," Ben said as he readied the Omnitrix.

"What's up with your hair?" Luffy asked as he looked at the large number 3 on top of Mr. 3's head. "It looks so stupid."

Mr. 3's shock turned into anger as he snarled at the boys.

Broggy, still pinned down by the wax covering his body, looked at them. "You two…you were Dorry's friends weren't you?"

Ben nodded. "That's right." He looked at Mr. 3. "And this is the guy who put a bomb in the rum Dorry drank."

"Bomb?" Broggy asked. "Rum?" He glared at Mr. 3. "I knew Dorry was hiding something from me but you….!" Suddenly Broggy tried to push himself up from the wax. Mr. 3 was speechless by the force of strength that the giant had despite his condition.

"Wax-Wax Arts Sword!" Mr. 3 yelled as he raised his hands in the air. His arms turned into globs of wax that flew into the sky. The globs sharpened themselves into a pair gigantic wax swords that descended upon the somewhat immobilized giant. They stabbed into both of his hands and legs, causing Broggy to roar in pain.

"Mr. Giant!" Luffy cried after watching this take place.

Ben glared at Mr. 3. "Alright," he said as he activated the Omnitrix. "You asked for it." He slammed the dial down.

When the green light past, a new alien stood for the four spectators to see. He had a yellow-armored body and looked much like a robot. His head was similar to a Greek Corinthian helmet with two horns or ears on it giving him the appearance of an armadillo. The big guy also a gray tail and there are jackhammer parts on his elbows, wrists, and hands.

"ARMODRILLO!" the alien bellowed in a deep, gruff voice.

"So coooool!" Luffy gazed at Armodrillo in wonder.

"What?" Broggy asked in amazement. "In all my years in Elbaf….I have never seen a being like that before."

A beat of sweat trickled down Mr. 3's forehead as he took in this…this…this monstrosity.

 _I'm starting to agree with Ms. Valentine in wondering how many things this boy can become. Already Mr. 5's team, the Unluckies, and Ms. All Sunday all reported the boy turning into different creatures but nothing like this. But I do know one thing. That boy…his power does not come from a Devil Fruit. He did something before he transformed. He was fiddling with a device of some sort on his wrist. Whatever that wrist was, it's the secret to his transformation. A machine that lets you became monsters? What device on Earth could contain such power?_

"Hey, Luffy," said Armodrillo as he cracked his knuckles. "Who gets to go first?"

Luffy had a grin on his face as he punched his fists together.

Mr. 3 scowled as he looked at his two opponents. One was a colossal armored something while the other was a boy believed to be worth 30,000,000 berri. The boy didn't look strong but the yellow armored being sure did.

"Ms. GoldenWeek!" Mr. 3 yelled. "Get over here!"

"Yes, Mr. 3?" Ms. GoldenWeek called back. She was sitting off to the side, sitting on a picnic blanket and eating a rice cracker.

"Would you get over here?" Mr. 3 exasperated at his partner.

Luffy looked at the little girl in confusion. "A kid?"

Armodrillo narrowed his eyes. What was that little kid going to do? Was that really Mr. 3's partner?

"Now," Mr. 3 said as Ms. Golden Week walked up to him. "I'm going to need your assistance in dealing with these two."

"Okay," Ms. GoldenWeek said calmly as she looked at Luffy and Armodrillo. Both were put off by how calm she was by all of this going on. She didn't even look all that fazed by seeing Armodrillo. That was way too calm a reaction for a little girl to react.

"Oi!" Luffy called to the little girl. "Move out of the way!"

"Get of here!" Armodrillo called. "This isn't a place for kids!"

"Sorry," Ms. GoldenWeek said as she stuffed the rest of the rice cracker into her mouth. "But I can't let you stop Mr. 3."

Luffy ignored her and focused instead on Mr. 3. He shot both of his arms back, causing them to stretch. "Gum Gum…"

"Colors Trap," Ms. GoldenWeek said. "Red-Color of a Target." Then she painted some sort of red symbol on the ground.

"Bazooka!" Luffy yelled. But when he fired his arms, he didn't attack Mr. 3. What he attacked instead was the red symbol that Ms. GoldenWeek had made.

"Uh…Luffy?" Armodrillo asked. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know," Luffy admitted. "I just attacked that red symbol for some reason."

Mr. 3 laughed. "Perfect. You have fallen into Ms. Golden Week's Colors Trap!"

Armodrillo and Luffy both looked at Mr. 3 in confusion. "Colors Trap?"

"Ms. GoldenWeek is a portrait artist who can work wonders with her paint," Mr. 3 explained. "And she is capable of using her paint to influence your emotions. You see that red symbol there? Anytime to try to attack, you will be drawn to it like a bull to a red cape."

"Says you!" Luffy yelled as he pulled his arms back again. "Gum Gum Bazooka!" But like before, he merely attacked the red symbol on the ground.

"Now," Mr. 3 chuckled. "I'm going to enjoy making you both my wax figures. Candle Lock!"

Wax fired out of Mr. 3's hands and shot towards Luffy and Armodrillo. Before either could do anything to stop it, the wax struck their legs and turned into giant candles. Luffy stumbled backwards while Armodrillo lurched forward and fell on his face.

"What is this?" Luffy asked as he looked at the Candle Lock on his legs. "This is like a giant hammer."

Armodrillo growled in annoyance at the giant candle that his legs had become stuck in. He then glared at Mr. 3, who had a look of triumph on his face.

"Now for the arms," he said. "Candle Lock!"

He fired more wax at Luffy and Armodrillo. They were just about to move out of the way when a pink wall materialized in front of the pair. The wax slammed harmless against it.

"What?" Mr. 3 exclaimed. He turned to see Gwen rushing towards the group. "You!"

"Gwen!" Luffy and Armodrillo both exclaimed.

"You were the girl who managed to escape Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine," Mr. 3 said with a snarl. "I wondered where you went."

"Guys, are you okay?" Gwen asked as she looked at Luffy and Ben's predicament.

"We can handle this," Armodrillo reassured her. "Just help the other giant."

"Huh?" Gwen asked. She looked up to see Broggy lying on the ground half encased in wax with wax swords stabbed into his arms and legs. "Mr. Broggy! Hold on!" She ran over to him.

"Don't you dare mess with my art!" Mr. 3 yelled. "Wax Wax Art Harpoon!" The Baroque Works agent fired wax from his hand that took the form a giant harpoon towards the unsuspecting Gwen.

"Gwen, look out!" Armodrillo cried.

Gwen turned around to see the harpoon coming at her. Not able to make a mana wall fast enough, Gwen tried moving to the side. Unfortunately, it grazed her side, tearing off the lower part of her shirt. And there was a nasty slash wound on her side. Gwen cringed as she fell on her knees. Quickly, she began applying her mana to heal the wound.

"Gwen!" Armodrillo and Luffy both cried. That was too close for comfort. If Gwen hadn't been able to move out of the way in time, she… They both turned to glare at Mr. 3.

"Darn you!" Luffy yelled. He pulled his fist back. "Gum Gum Pistol!" He tied shooting his fist towards Mr. 3, but it only struck that red Colors Trap that Ms. GoldenWeek had made.

"How many times are you going to try before you get the message?" Mr. 3 asked mockingly. "As long as Ms. GoldenWeek's Colors Trap is there, you won't lay a hand on me."

"Maybe he can't," Armodrillo said. "But I can." He grabbed the Candle Lock around his legs and focused his powers. The Candle Lock began to shake violently until it crumbled to dust.

"What?" Mr. 3 cried out. "How did you…?"

"Easy," Armodrillo said. "Now watch this!" He put his hands on the ground and the jackhammer parts in his elbows started pumping. At first nobody except Gwen knew what was going on. The ground began to tremble violently. Fissures even began to form.

"What is this?" Mr. 3 asked. "What is he doing?" He had to jump out of the way as a fissure was coming towards him now.

Luffy figured it out and looked at Armodrillo in awe. "You can make earthquakes?" he asked excitedly.

Armodrillo nodded as he continued his earthquakes. Focusing his powers, he created sent a fissure towards the red symbol that Ms. GoldenWeek had made. The fissure split the symbol in two.

Mr. 3's eyes bugged out. This form had the power to make earthquakes? If that was the case, it didn't matter about Ms. GoldenWeek's red color trap. This "Armodrillo" could just use his power to attack everything, catching Mr. 3 and his partner in the crossfire. A powerful being like this had to be dealt with immediately.

"Now I can get him," Luffy said as he pulled his fist back again. "Gum Gum…"

"Candle Wall!" Mr. 3 yelled quickly.

"Pistol!" Luffy cried. But just as his fist shot towards Mr. 3, a giant wall of wax appeared and Luffy's hand struck it instead. But it must have been thick wax because Luffy's punch didn't even crack it.

"Let me try!" Armodrillo said as he ran at the wax wall. He pulled back his fist and unleashed a literal jackhammer punch to the candle wall. It punched a hole right through the wall. Mr. 3's jaw dropped as Armodrillo tore through the rest of it.

"Got you!" Armodrillo said as he raised his fists. But just as he was about to bring them down on Mr. 3, he started laughing uncontrollably. In fact, it was so bad that he fell over and continued laughing.

"Hey!" Luffy yelled to Armodrillo. "Why are you so happy?"

"I hahahahahaha can't help it. Ahahahahahahahah!" Armodrillo laughed. "I can't…I can't…I can't stop laughing. Hahahahahahahaha!" He rolled over while laughing. Gwen noticed something.

"Luffy!" She called. "There's some kind of yellow symbol on his back!"

"Huh?" Luffy asked her before he looked at Armodrillo's back. Sure enough, there was a yellow symbol. It was a lot like that red one from before.

"Colors Trap," said a voice behind Luffy. "Yellow-Color of Laughter."

Luffy turned to see Ms. GoldenWeek standing there now. He looked back at Armodrillo. So that yellow symbol thing was making him laugh.

"Luffy!" Gwen called as she ran towards Armodrillo. "We need to get that symbol off of Ben."

"Got it!" Luffy said. He was about to run towards Armodrillo too when…"Waaaaaaah!" Tears like waterfalls began pouring out of his eyes. "I just wanna cry. Waaaaaaah!"

Gwen looked at Luffy dumbfounded. Then she realized what must have happened. It was that girl again.

"Colors Trap," Ms. GoldenWeek said. "Blue-Color of Sorrow."

Gwen was in a bind and she knew it. Luffy was crying while Armodrillo was laughing his head off. And she was outnumbered. Hopefully not outmatched though.

Mr. 3 snorted as he looked at the incapacitated Luffy and Armodrillo. "And here I thought they were going to be a challenge." He looked at Armodrillo. "I must say I'm deeply disappointed. So it seems that you're just one of those who relies entirely on your power alone with no strategic ways of using it." He smiled at his partner. "You did well, Ms. GoldenWeek."

"Can I take a break now?" Ms. GoldenWeek asked.

"Of course," Mr. 3 said. "In fact, don't help me dealing with this last one. I can more than handle one little girl."

Gwen glared at Mr. 3 as she took a fighting stance. "I'll show you what this "little girl" can do."

Mr. 3 smirked at her. "Candle Lock!" He unleashed a glob of wax at her legs. Gwen responded by quickly rolling out of the way and throwing disks of mana at him.

"Candle Wall!" Mr. 3 created a wall of wax in front of him, which the mana disks shattered against. He reduced the wall to a puddle of wax and smirked at her. "I don't how what those purple things are, but it looks like you can't do much to me."

Now it was Gwen's turn to smirk, something that made Mr. 3 raise an eyebrow at her in confusion.

"Tur-bo!" Gwen cried. A violet colored tornado flew from her hand and towards a stunned Mr. 3. Before Mr. 3 could create another Candle Wall or some kind of counter, he was picked up by the wind and blasted into the forest.

Gwen took advantage of this to go and help Luffy and Armodrillo. She went to Luffy first since he was closer. Luffy was now on his knees and still crying his head off. "I wonder how this comes off," Gwen muttered as she looked at symbol. "That girl seemed to paint it on Luffy. I wonder if I…" she brought a hand to the blue symbol and started rubbing it. It hadn't completely dried so part of it came off. And once it did, Luffy immediately stopped crying.

"Ugh," Luffy rubbed his eyes. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later," Gwen said as she helped Luffy to his feet. "Right now we need to help Ben." They ran to Armodrillo, who was still laughing and rolling around.

"Ben, hold still," Gwen said as she tried to reach the yellow symbol on his back. Unfortunately he kept moving around and she couldn't reach it.

"I can't, ahahahahahahahahahaha, help it!" Armodrillo said. "He…help me. Ahahahahahahahahahaha!"

"I'm trying to," Gwen groaned. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Guess we'll have to do this the hard way. Facio Gravis!"

Just as Armodrillo rolled over on his stomach again, he was stopped moving. He was still laughing but he couldn't move anymore.

"Eeeeeeh?" Luffy asked excitedly. "Gwen, how'd you do that?"

Gwen looked at Luffy. No offense meant to him but he was rather simple minded when it came to things. Examples being when he called Ben's Omnitrix a "mystery device" when Ben told him about it. Something told Gwen that if she told him about mana, he wouldn't understand. So she decided to go with the simply approach.

"I used magic," she said. Luffy's jaw dropped and his eyes became stars.

"Magic?" He asked excitedly. "You're a witch?"

Gwen pouted, not really liking the word witch. "How about Enchantress?" she suggested. She walked over to the still laughing Armodrillo and rubbed the yellow symbol on his back. Armodrillo's laughing slowly died down.

"Finally," he said weakly. "Thanks, Gwen. Uh…a little help here?"

Gwen giggled as she removed the spell from Armodrillo.

"So where's Mr. 3 at?" Armodrillo asked as he took a look around.

"I sent him into the woods," Gwen explained. "But I don't know if he'll come back or not."

"We'll worry about that later," Armodrillo said. "For now, let's get the big guy out of there!"

The three nodded and ran towards the imprisoned Broggy. Gwen winced as she looked at the swords in Broggy's arms and legs. Then a thought struck her.

"These are wax, right? That means they should melt with heat or fire. Ben, try using NRG or Heatblast to help melt the wax. I'll see what I can do."

"Got it, Gwen," Armodrillo replied. He touched the Ultimatrix dial and turned into NRG.

"NRG!" he shouted

"So cooooool!" Luffy said as he looked at NRG.

Broggy's eyes widened. "How…how did you do that?"

"It's hard to explain," NRG replied in his Russian accent. He walked over to the first wax sword he could get to and put his hands on it. "This is gonna get hot." He focused his power on the wax sword, the heat causing the sword to melt away. Broggy grit his teeth, as the heat was affecting the gash in his hand.

"Wow!" Luffy said.

"NRG has the power of heat," Gwen explained to Luffy. "He's capable of melting pretty much anything he touches if he wants to."

Gwen went over to one of the other swords. Putting her hand on it, she said the words "Professo Kar!" The wax sword she was touching was reduced to a puddle of wax. Luffy looked like a kid in a candy store.

The two cousins repeated this routine on the swords that bound Broggy's legs. All that was left to deal with was the giant coating of wax that covered most of his body.

"Alright," Luffy said. "Soon, we'll get him free."

"Don't bet on it!" The three turned around to see Mr. 3 walking towards him. Only, he was covered in a gigantic suit of armor made out of wax that made him look like a robotic boxer with huge boxing gloves. "Behold! My Candle Champion!"

"So cool!" Luffy admired.

NRG groaned. "You are easily amused, aren't you?" he asked.

Mr. 3 saw NRG standing there and scowled. _Another form._

"I seem to have underestimated you," Mr. 3 said. "Now I'm going to fight you for real!" He charged at them. "Champion Fight: Little Garden!"

With a yell, NRG charged at Mr. 3, who responded by punching NRG. The blow was enough to send the armored energy alien flying some good feet before hitting the ground.

Luffy jumped into the air. "Gum Gum Stamp!" he yelled as he shot his leg at Mr. 3's head. But Mr. 3 brought up his fists and blocked the attack.

"Vitalus Eruptum!" Gwen yelled. Vines burst out of the ground and wrapped around Mr. 3's legs.

"What in…" Mr. 3 tried to say but he fell over before he had the chance to finish his sentence. He noticed that the vines were starting to wrap around him so he quickly used his armor's giant bulk to tear through vines. He started getting back up to his feet when he was tackled from behind, making him stumble.

"Miss me?" NRG, who was hanging onto Mr. 3's back, asked. Mr. 3 knew he had to get NRG off quickly or he was going to melt his armor. Mr. 3 swung a fist over his back, hitting NRG on top of the noggin. It didn't hurt him of course but it did managed to knock him off Mr. 3's back and into the ground.

"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy yelled as he fired his stretching fist at Mr. 3, who simply made it bounce off his giant boxing glove.

"It's useless," Mr. 3 mocked.

Gwen responded to that by creating a purple tendril of mana and made it grab Mr. 3 by his 3 shaped hair style. She yanked on it, causing Mr. 3 to lurch forward while yelping in pain. "Ow! Ow! Don't pull!"

"Ben, now!" Gwen called.

"Right!" NRG answered back as he focused his power on the ground. He caused the part he was touching to become a geyser of lava that struck Mr. 3's wax armor and causing it to start melting.

"Noooo!" Mr. 3 screamed as he struggled to attack NRG. But this time, NRG caught the giant boxing glove with both of his hands.

"My turn," NRG replied as he started focusing his power on the boxing glove. Mr. 3 wigged out when he saw that the glove was now melting. "The heat is on."

"Let go!" Mr. 3 yelled as he struggled to get away. "Ms. GoldenWeek, help me!"

"But you said I could take a break," Ms. GoldenWeek, who was sitting on her picnic basket, reminded him.

"I'm in trouble and you're worried about taking a break?" Mr. 3 asked. "Help me out!"

Remembering that the girl had some pretty dangerous color powers, Gwen decided to prevent her from causing anymore trouble. "Somnus!" she cried.

Ms. GoldenWeek paused just as she was starting to stand up. Suddenly she fell over and started snoring.

"Who said you could nap?" Mr. 3 demanded but his yelling did nothing to wake the girl up from her slumber. He turned his head to glare at Gwen despite his wax armor melting. "You! You did something to her! What did you do?"

"Magic!" Luffy said with a grin on his face. "She's an Enchantress!"

Mr. 3's eyes widened. "Magic? Enchantress?"

 _Just what kind of people are on this crew?_

"Perhaps you should pay attention," a Russian voice reminded him.

Mr. 3 brought his attention back on NRG and discovered that his armor had completely melted. He was standing there in a puddle of his own wax. Realizing that he was now completely helpless, he gulped and started whimpering.

"Gum Gum…"

Mr. 3 turned around just in time to see Luffy pull back his fist.

"Pistol!"

Luffy's fist struck right into Mr. 3's face. Luffy's fist stretched, carrying him all the way into a nearby tree and smashing him into a tree in the distance .The force of the blow had been enough to snap the tree in half. Mr. 3 crumpled to the ground. And showed no signs of getting up.

"Finally," NRG said. In a flash of green light, he turned back to normal.

Gwen on the other hand was using her magic to make the wax coating Broggy to soften. Once it did, Broggy sat himself up.

"Amazing," he said as he looked down at Gwen. "In all my years, I have never seen two beings quite like you and that boy."

Ben, who overheard him, scratched his head. "We're kind of…well, one of a kind."

"Hey," Luffy said. "Didn't that woman with the lemon hat say that candle guy had our friends?"

"Lemon hat?" Gwen asked. Then it dawned on her. "Oh, Ms. Valentine. Right, it was all a trap. I managed to get away and Kevin told me to go find help." She rubbed her arm sheepishly. "I kind of got lost for a bit, then I ran into Vivi, Usopp, and Carue. I helped heal Carue for a bit, then Vivi told me how you guys beat up Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine and had gone to find Mr. 3. So I came to help."

"Thanks, Gwen," Ben said. "How's your side?" He looked at her stomach, which was visible now that part of her shirt had been turn courtesy of Mr. 3's harpoon. But he saw that she didn't even have a scar.

"It's fine, Ben," Gwen reassured him. "Good thing I learned that healing spell."

Ben nodded. "No kidding. Now we just need to find out where the others are. Gwen, do you have anything we can use so you can track them."

Luffy tilted his head in confusion. "Huh?" he asked.

"Not on me," Gwen admitted. "Guess we'll just have to look for them the hard way."

"Guys!" Luffy suddenly screamed. "Where are you? You can come out now!"

"Ow," Ben whined as he rubbed his soar ears. "Try to make me deaf why don't ya?"

"Luffy," Gwen said. "Mr. 3 probably hid them somewhere."

"If that's the case, then we'd better split up and go look for them," Ben said. "We'll meet back here in ten minutes if we can't find anything. Got it?"

Luffy and Gwen nodded. "Got it!"

With that, the three went their different ways into the woods to find the others. Broggy chuckled to himself as he watched them leave.

"Those kids really are something," he looked softly at his fallen comrade. "Right, Dorry?"

* * *

Ben grumbled as he fought past the various plant life.

"Where in the world could he hide them?" The wielder of the Ultimatrix grumbled as he trudged through. "This is the jungle."

Then Ben noticed something that really stuck out. A house made out of wax. A sweatdrop appeared on his head.

"Apparently Mr. 3's not very subtle," Ben muttered to himself. He ran over to the wax house. Cautiously, Ben opened the door a tiny crack and peeked inside. Inside was furniture made of wax with a table in the middle of it. Inside was…

"Guys!" Ben cried as he flung the door open.

Sure enough, Nami, Zoro, and Kevin were all lying on the ground with their arms and legs encased in candle locks.

"Ben!" Nami cried happily when she saw who came in.

"About time, Tennyson," Kevin grumbled.

"Hold on a second, guys," Ben said as he activated the Ultimatrix. "I'll use NRG to get you out of there." He switched the dial to NRG and slammed it down. When the green flash of light disappeared, NRG was not the alien the group was seeing. Instead Swampfire stood in his place. "That works too."

"So what happened to you guys?" Zoro asked as Swampfire walked over to them and started using his flames to soften the wax.

"Did Gwen get away?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah," Swampfire replied. "She helped me and Luffy out against Mr. 3."

Kevin let out a sigh of relief.

"What about Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine?" Nami asked.

"Took care of them before we dealt with Mr. 3," Swampfire explained. "There, that should do it."

The three were able to get out of their locks now thanks to Swampfire weakening them.

"Thanks, Ben," Nami said as Swampfire turned back to normal.

"No problem," Ben said. "Let's go get Usopp, Vivi, and Carue and head back to where I told Gwen and Luffy to meet up at."

Nodding, the gang all left the wax house.

* * *

Back at Dorry's home, Usopp and Vivi were looking at each other in concern.

"I don't like it," Usopp said. "Didn't you feel that earthquake from earlier?"

"What could have caused that?" Vivi asked.

"Do you think Ben can turn into something that can make earthquakes?" Usopp asked.

"After seeing the other things Ben's turned into," Vivi said. "I wouldn't be surprised now. I just hope Miss Gwen got to them okay. I really appreciate her healing Carue."

"Quack!" Carue said as he started pointing towards the woods with one of his wings.

"What is it, Carue?" Vivi asked. She looked where Carue was pointing and saw Ben, Zoro, Nami, and Kevin walking towards them. "Guys!"

Ms. Valentine, who was still tied up against Dorry's home, was speechless.

"Did you take care of Mr. 3?" Usopp asked.

Ben grinned. "Naturally,"

Ms. Valentine began whimpering like a puppy. So far this crew had managed to defeat her and Mr. 5 but also the Mr. 3 team as well.

"Is Gwen okay?" Vivi asked.

"She was fine the last time I saw her," Ben explained. "We split up to look for the others. I told them to meet back at the clearing in ten minutes."

"Do you think we should go look for them?" Kevin asked.

Nami shook her head. "Luffy will be fine and I'm pretty sure that Gwen can take care of herself."

Kevin nodded. "True…it's just…"

Nami smiled mischievously at Kevin. She could see how much Kevin cared about Gwen.

"Hey, I just thought of something," Ben realized.

"Took you long enough," Kevin joked. Ben scowled at him.

"What's up, Ben?" Usopp asked.

Ben looked at the ground in thought for a minute before he looked at Ms. Valentine. She flinched when Ben's eyes were on her.

"Where's Sanji?" he asked.

The others gasped. "That's right!" Nami said. "Sanji wasn't with us."

"Who?" Ms. Valentine asked.

"Blonde hair, curly eyebrow, smoking a cigar," Kevin described.

Ms. Valentine shook her head. "I…I'm sorry," she said. "We didn't encounter anyone like that."

The others let out a sigh of relief. "Well at least Sanji didn't get captured." Ben said.

"But where is he?" Vivi asked.

"Probably back on the ship," Ben figured.

"Hope he didn't forget about our hunting contest." Zoro said.

"Vivi-chan! Nami-san!"

"Speak of the devil," Kevin said as everyone turned to see Sanji coming towards them. Behind him was Gwen and Luffy.

"Ben! You found them!" Gwen said as she ran towards the group.

"Guys!" Luffy called happily. "You're all okay!"

"Nami-san! Vivi-chan!" Sanji said in a lovey dovy mood. "I heard rumbling while I was on the ship and went to go investigate. Then I ran into Gwen-chan and she told me everything." He looked at Ben sternly. "I hope you pounded that Mr. 3 guy for hurting Gwen-chan."

That caught Kevin's attention. "What? What happened to Gwen?" He looked at Gwen and saw the lower part of her shirt was torn. "Gwen, what happened?"

"A little gift from Mr. 3," Gwen explained. "Don't worry, though. I'm fine."

But the look of concern didn't leave Kevin's face as he continued looking at Gwen.

"It was so cool!" Luffy said. "First Ben turned into this yellow robot that makes earthquakes…"

"Armodrillo," Kevin said. "I should have known he was the one behind it."

"And then he turned into this suit that could melt stuff!" Luffy finished.

"That would be NRG," Gwen told Luffy.

Ms. Valentine paled as she took in this information. Two more creatures that the boy could turn into?

"Just how many of those…monsters can you become?" she was unable to prevent herself from asking.

Ben turned around to look at her when the gang heard a thunderous noise that made them all jump. At first they thought it was thunder until they noticed that it sounded like crying.

"Who can cry this loud?" Ben asked.

"Teacher Broggy!" Usopp realized. He ran off in the direction where Broggy and Dorry were.

"Usopp, wait up!" Gwen said as she ran after him. In no time, everyone ran in the direction Usopp went. But they left Ms. Valentine behind. But personally, Ms. Valentine was relieved because she wanted to be as far away from this crew as possible.

* * *

When the gang arrived where they left Dorry and Broggy, Broggy was crying so much that tears came out of his eyes like waterfalls. There was even a rainbow formed because of his crying.

"Look!" Luffy said. "A rainbow!"

"He's way too loud," Kevin grumbled as he covered his ears.

"Who is this guy?" Sanji asked.

"He's a big one," Zoro commented.

Usopp was starting to cry now. "I understand how he feels."

Ben gave a sad look over at Dorry's fallen body. This was all Mr. 3's fault. If he hadn't put that bomb in Dorry's rum, then the giant would be still around.

Suddenly Dorry sat straight up, shocking everyone.

"Do…Dorry?" Broggy asked in shock.

"You're okay!" Ben said. "But how?"

"It must have been the weapons," Dorry said as he placed a hand on his bleeding shoulder.

"The weapons?" Usopp asked before he looked at them. "Oh I get it."

"Elbaf's weapons are made to last a long time," Dorry said. 'But not enough for this one hundred year fight. I am stunned."

He and Broggy started laughing merrily.

"This is a real miracle," Usopp said as he looked at the group in awe.

Broggy hugged Dorry. "I am so glad you are alive, my friend."

"Hey, Broggy," Dorry said. "Don't hug me too tight. It hurts my wounds." But Dorry was still laughing regardless.

"Miracle?" Zoro asked. "That's possible, just like those 100 year old weapons and their owners."

"I think it was dumb luck," Kevin muttered.

Gwen frowned at him for his comment.

"This is a wonderful day!" Broggy said. "I have to thank the Elbaf God!"

"You hit just once," Dorry said dubiously. "And you are this happy, Broggy?"

"I didn't say that," Broggy retorted, playing hitting his friend's shoulder.

"Don't touch my wound," Dorry said.

"You wanna fight?" Both giants asked each other. "I will knock you down this time!"

"Why are you fighting again?" Nami demanded while Luffy laughed at the exchange between the giants.

Kevin groaned as he shook his head. Right now those two made him think of Rath jumbo sized. And that was the last thing any universe needed.

"Ow!" Gwen said, rubbing a spot on her exposed stomach.

Kevin looked at her "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Gwen said as she rubbed a spot on her stomach. "I think a bug bit me or something. Probably a mosquito."

"Wouldn't be surprised in a place like this," Kevin said as he looked at the area around them. "Well now what do we do? I vote for getting out of here."

"We can't," Nami said. "We need an entire year to wait for the Log Posse to set."

"Come on," Kevin groaned. "I've seen enough of this place. Let's just wing it."

"Right and wind up getting stuck on an island filled with living plants or something," Ben said. "If we take our chances, we might just wind up going in the opposite direction of Alabasta." A thought occurred to him. "Hold on. That Log Posse things deals with the magnetic frequency of this island right? Maybe I could turn into Lodestar and speed things up."

"Lodestar?" Vivi asked.

"A creature with magnetic powers," Gwen explained before looking at Ben. "We shouldn't risk it. There's a chance that Lodestar's magnetism might interfere and cause the Log Pose to mess up anyway."

Kevin snorted. "Well, we did have an Eternal Pose that would have led us right to Alabasta but _somebody_ had to go and break it." He glared at Luffy.

"Don't go blaming Luffy for this, Kevin," Gwen said.

"Why not?" Kevin asked. "He's the one who broke the Eternal Pose that Ms. All Sunday woman gave us?"

"What if that was her plan from the start?" Gwen pointed out. "What if she was messing with our heads so that we wouldn't trust her and go to Little Garden?"

"Then Luffy's an idiot for falling for it," Kevin said.

"Kevin!" Gwen retorted.

"Okay, this isn't helping," Ben said as he stood between them. "We need to find a way to get off this island because who knows what that Crocodile guy's gonna do if we don't make it to Alabasta as soon as possible."

"Can't you do something?" Nami asked the two giants, who shook their heads.

"Not even we know how to use the Log Pose," Dorry admitted.

Ben scratched his chin for a minute. "Maybe someone else can help us," he said cryptically.

"You're talking about Ms. Valentine aren't you?" Kevin said.

Vivi's eyes widened. "That…might work."

"Yosh!" Luffy said excitedly. "Then let's go ask her."

"By the way," Sanji said to Zoro. "Don't forget about our hunting contest."

"That?" Zoro asked. "I already won. I bagged a big rhino."

"A rhino, huh?" Sanji asked. "Well let's see if it's as big as the lizard I got."

"Hunting contest?" Dorry and Broggy both thought to themselves as the group went off to talk with Ms. Valentine.

* * *

As for the woman in question; she was trying her best to get out of the webbing that Ben had encased her in as Spidermonkey. She had to get away. She and her partner had failed their mission completely. That boy and his forms were too much to overcome by themselves. She couldn't go back to the boss, as he would kill her for her failure. Mr. 0 had been told a lot about this boy and his ability to turn into multiple monsters. Mr. 0 did not consider the boy a threat, but he did admit that the boy made stopping the princess rather difficult. That was why Mr. 3 had been assigned to the mission. But even he and his intellect that was renowned throughout Baroque Works, had failed to bring this boy down. Who…who in Baroque Works could stand against this boy other than Mr. 0 himself?

"Hey, Ms. Valentine?"

Ms. Valentine stopped in her struggling and looked in fear as she saw Ben and the others coming towards her. Oh no. What would they do to her? Would they kill her? Torture her?

"We have a couple of questions we'd like to ask you," Gwen said.

So that was it. They were going to interrogate her. Ms. Valentine knew that giving away any secrets regarding Baroque Works would mean a death warrant on her head. But then…who knew what this crew of pirates was capable of.

"We need to get to Alabasta," Nami said as she looked at Ms. Valentine, curious about the webbing her body was encased in.

"But it takes a whole year for the Log Pose to set," Vivi continued.

"So we'll be nice to you if you're nice to us," Kevin said. "Got it?"

Too scared to say anything, Ms. Valentine slowly nodded her head.

"How do we get to Alabasta without waiting for the Log Pose to settle?" Ben asked.

"You can't," Ms. Valentine said. She panicked when she saw the darkened look on some of the group's faces. "I'm being serious! The only way you could make it to Arabasta without waiting is if you had an Eternal Pose."

Ben looked at the ground.

"There's no other way?" Luffy asked. Ms. Valentine shook her head.

Ben tapped his chin for a minute, then started walking off again.

"Hey, Ben," Sanji said. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to that wax house I found," Ben said. "It belongs to Mr. 3 so I'm gonna see if maybe he had something useful."

"There wasn't much in there," Nami said. "When Zoro, Kevin, and I were locked up in the wax house, the only thing there was a tea set and a picnic basket."

"Well, it doesn't hurt to do a double check," Ben pointed out.

"A wax house? I'll come with you," Sanji said.

* * *

He and Ben walked through the forest with Ben leading him to where the wax house was at. As soon as the two walked in, they became aware of a ringing noise.

"Do you hear that?" Ben asked Sanji.

"I hear it," Sanji said. "I wonder where it's coming from."

The two followed the ringing noise, where it led them to the picnic basket that Nami had mentioned. Looking at each other in confusion, they opened the basket and pulled out what appeared to be a cross between a phone and a snail.

"Cool," Sanji said. "A Den Den Mushi."

"A what?" Ben asked, causing Sanji to look at him in surprise.

"You've never used a Den Den Mushi before?" Sanji asked him.

Ben shook his head. Looking at Ben in puzzlement, Sanji brought his attention back to the Den Den Mushi and pulled the receiver off its back. "Hello, this is Restaurant Le Crap; would you like to make a reservation?"

Ben gawked at Sanji. Of all the things to say. But…he did have to admit that it was kind of funny.

"Stop playing, you idiot," said a low, menacing voice from the Den Den Mushi. The snail part's mouth moved in synch with the voice. "Why don't you send me a report?"

Sanji and Ben shared a cautious glance at each other before Sanji talked into the receiver. "Report?" he asked. "Um…who are you?"

"It's me," Came the answer. "Mr. 0."

Ben's eyes widened in shock as he looked at Sanji, whose one visible eye was narrowed at the Den Den Mushi. So this was the guy that led Baroque Works. The one who was involved with a war in Alabasta and wanted Vivi dead. Apparently Mr. 0 thought Sanji was either Mr. 3 or Mr. 5. Probably Mr. 3 since this wax house had to belong to him. Who else would it belong to?

"I have given you an order," Mr. 0 said. "I would like to know the progress, Mr. 3."

Figures. Mr. 0, or Crocodile, had called to see if Mr. 3 had managed to finish them off. Ben and Sanji looked at each other, silently asking between the two of them what they should do. If Mr. 0 figured out that he wasn't talking with Mr. 3, who knew what he was going to do.

"Why don't you answer me?" Mr. 0 asked. "I'm asking you a question. Have you killed Princess Vivi and the Straw-hat Pirates?"

Sanji took a whiff of his cigarette and blew out some smoke. Coolly, he leaned back and smirked. "Oh, I've killed all of them. Everyone who knew your secret is dead. So, we don't have to hunt for them anymore."

"Is that so?" Mr. 0 asked. "What about this boy who is said to turn into monsters? Are you sure you killed him?"

"Of course," Sanji said before playfully grinning. "He went down pretty easy actually."

Ben scowled in annoyance at Sanji.

"Good work," Mr. 0 said. "I've sent the Unluckies to see if you had completed the mission or not. They will give it to you."

"It?" Sanji asked as he and Ben exchanged a look at each other.

"The Eternal Pose," Mr. 0 explained. "To Alabasta."

Sanji and Ben's eyes widened. An Eternal Pose to Alabasta? That was it! Their ticket off this island and back to Vivi's home.

"You and Ms. GoldenWeek shall go to Alabasta," Mr. 0 continued. "It's time to accomplish our goals. I will send you more details after you've arrived at Arabasta."

Ben and Sanji would have been sharing a look of triumph right now if it weren't for the fact that they were looking at the Unluckies, who were looking at them from the windows in the wax house.

"What are those two creatures?" Sanji asked Ben.

"What happened?" Mr. 0 asked from the Den Den Mushi.

The vulture bent forward to reveal a pair of cannons or bazookas on its back. The otter pulled out two clams with blades sticking out of them.

"Nothing," Sanji replied.

The vulture fired the bazookas at its two foes, forcing Sanji and Ben to duck out of the way. Only for the otter to try and attack them with its bladed clams. Ben was just about to activate the Omnitrix…

"You think that you can kill me?" Sanji asked the otter. "Take this! You stupid otter with sunglasses!" he kicked the otter and made it smack into the wall of the wax house. It slid to the ground with a giant lump on its forehead.

The vulture fired at Sanji again, only for Sanji to flip in the air and grab the vulture's neck with his feet. "Why didn't you listen, you stupid giant vulture?" he twisted the vulture's neck, making the vulture hit the ground as well.

Ben watched this all in shocked silence. Even though they were just two animals, Sanji's moves were amazing. He didn't think that any human could be capable of something like that.

"What is happening?" Mr. 0's voice from the Den Den Mushi demanded. Sanji calmly went over and picked up the receiver.

"Oh there's nothing going on," Sanji said. "Turns out the monster boy was still alive after all. But don't worry. He's dead for sure this time."

There was moment of silence from the other end. Then...

"Still…alive? I thought you told me that you accomplished that mission, didn't you?"

"That's right," Sanji said. "I thought I was. But that kid's sneakier than I thought."

"In other words," Mr. 0 said in an even more menacing voice. "You gave me a false report?"

"Um…" Sanj said. Both he and Ben were put off by this dark tone. "I can't help it if you think that way. But everyone is now one hundred percent dead. So, there is no need to look for them anymore. Ok?"

"Never mind that," Mr. 0 said. "After you take care of everything, just go to Alabasta. I will hang up now because if the Marines detect this conversation, we will be in trouble. From now on, I will send the orders by mail as usual. That's all. I wish you luck, Mr. 3." Then the line went dead, meaning that Mr. 0 had hung up.

"Phew," Ben said as he relaxed. "I didn't think he'd buy it."

"Never did I," Sanji said. He got up and looked at the Unluckies. "By the way, who are these two?"

"The Unluckies," Ben said. "Guess they thawed out of that ice I put them in."

"Hey, Ben. Look." Sanji said.

Ben looked in the direction Sanji was looking and saw an object lying next to the otter. He gasped. "It's the Eternal Pose to Arabasta!"

"Great!" Sanji said as he picked up the Eternal Pose. "Let's go back and tell the others."

Nodding, Ben opened the door to the house and the two of them ran to where the others were.

* * *

"Ben?" Gwen asked as she saw them running. "Sanji?"

"Whoa, where's the fire?" Kevin asked as the two came to a halt right in front of them.

"Very funny, Kevin," Ben said between pants. "But listen. We went to Mr. 3' house and found this thing called a Den Den Mushi."

Ms. Valentine's eyes widened.

"And we got a call from Mr. 0," Sanji finished for Ben.

Luffy, Nami, Usopp, Gwen, and Vivi all gasped. Zoro and Kevin narrowed their eyes.

"You…you actually talked with Mr. 0?" Vivi asked.

"He thought Sanji was Mr. 3," Ben explained. "And Sanji told him that we were all dead."

Kevin grinned. "Nice one."

"With Mr. 0 thinking we're all dead," Gwen said. "We can get back to Alabasta unnoticed."

"Only one problem," Zoro said. "What about her?" He pointed at Ms. Valentine with his thumb.

"Good point," Usopp said. "She just overheard everything."

"So she might try to escape and warn Mr. 0 about us still being alive," Nami realized.

"No need to worry about that,"

The gang turned to see Broggy and Dorry towering behind them. How in the world the giants got there without them noticing was a mystery to all. Maybe they were so wrapped up in their situation that they failed to notice.

"We should repay you for all that you've done for us," Broggy said.

"And keeping these hooligans from bothering anymore seems like a fair trade," Dorry said with a laugh.

"Are you sure?" Gwen asked. "I mean I don't want us to any trouble."

"No trouble," Broggy said. "Consider it a thank you."

"That's great and all," Kevin said. "Only one problem…we're still stuck on this island anyway."

"Oh really?" Sanji asked as he pulled out the Eternal Pose. This caused Luffy, Usopp, Zoro, Nami, Vivi, Gwen, Kevin, and even Carue to gap at him. "What?"

"The Eternal Pose to Alabasta!" Vivi cried out.

Kevin scowled at Sanji and Ben. "And when were you planning on telling us you had that?"

Vivi threw her arms around Sanji and Ben. "Thank you both so very much! I never thought we'd get out of here."

Sanji's visible eye became heart shaped. "You're welcome," he mumbled happily. "I didn't know you would be so happy."

"Finally!" Luffy said happily. "We can get out of here!"

"Well what are we waiting for?" Nami asked with a smile. "Let's go!"

Luffy looked up at the giants and smiled. "Then, it's time to say good-bye. I wish both of you luck."

"Oh!" Broggy said. "You must be in a hurry."

"That's too bad," Dorry admitted. "But we won't stop you. I wish that you could save your country."

Vivi smiled at them. "Thank you."

"Don't die, Ok?" Luffy called as they started walking back towards the ship.

"Take care!" Ben called.

"I will go to Elbaf one day!" Usopp shouted to the giants. Soon, they disappeared in the thick jungle or forest of the island. Dorry and Broggy continued staring at the woods.

"Our friends are about to leave," Broggy said.

"We can't stay here while knowing that there is a monster out there," Dorry said.

Ms. Valentine looked up at them in confusion. Monster?

"How is your injury, Dorry?" Broggy asked.

"Don't worry about that," Dorry said as he gripped his sword tightly.

Broggy gripped his axe. "My axe and your sword are coming to their end."

"Are you going to be sad?" Dorry asked.

"Of course. I've been using axe for 100 years but…for our friends, I won't regret it."

Dorry nodded. "We've decided."

* * *

Back at the ship, Sanji and Zoro were getting into an argument. Turns out that Zoro's rhino was the triceratops from before and Sanji's lizard the T-Rex he ran into earlier. Both had them next to the ship and were comparing sizes between the two giant reptiles.

"Can't you see?" Sanji demanded. "My lizard is bigger."

"Then you must be blind because my rhino is definitely bigger," Zoro countered.

"You don't need to argue," Luffy said from the railing. "Both of them look delicious anyway."

"Shut up!" Zoro and Sanji both said.

"How long are you going to fight?" Nami asked from the upper deck of the ship. "We can't carry the whole thing anyway. Just cut the parts that we can bring and let's go."

"Yes, Nami-san!" Sanji said eagerly.

"Usopp, mine's bigger right?" Zoro asked Usopp.

"Ben, mine's bigger than his right?" Sanji asked Ben.

"Huh?" Usopp asked Zoro before looking at the two dead dinosaurs. "I don't want to decide."

"Me neither," Ben said.

"Can't you call it a draw?" Vivi asked.

"There's no draw in a competition," Zoro replied.

"Says who?" Kevin asked.

After a while for getting the meat on the ship, the gang sailed off through the river so that they could reach the end of the island. Nami noticed Ben was leaning against the railing, very lost in thought. "What's up, Ben?" She asked as she walked over to him.

"Huh?" Ben looked up at her. "Nothing it's just…"

"Just what?"

"Well…it's about that Mr. 0 or Crocodile or whoever he is," Ben said. "Why is he doing this in the first place? Why does he want Alabasta?"

Nami shook her head. "I'm not sure. I don't think even Vivi knows for sure, and she knows more about Baroque Works than any of us do."

Ben sighed as he looked at the railing.

"Cheer up," Nami said with a grin. "With all those monsters you can turn into, I bet you can kick this Crocodile's butt all the way around the world."

Ben grinned. "You think so?"

"I'm pretty sure," Nami said. "But…"

Ben raised an eyebrow. "But what?"

"Where were you?" Nami asked annoyed. "Your position on the ship is to be my bodyguard, remember? So why weren't you there to protect me from those Baroque Works guys? If you don't start doing your job, I'm gonna start charging you."

"Charging me? For what?"

"Your bodyguard fee of course," Nami said. Then she made a pouty face. "I'm just a sweet innocent girl in this big scary world. I need someone to keep me safe."

 _I'm starting to think you're anything but innocent._ Ben thought to himself. _And shouldn't I be the one getting paid, not the other way around?_

Sanji growled under his breath. "Curse him." He said. "How come he gets to be all close to Nami-san?"

"Hey look!" Luffy said, pointing ahead. "Those are the Mister Giants! They coming to see us off!"

Sure enough, Dorry and Broggy were standing on either side of the island's edge, facing out towards the ocean.

"The small humans who came to his island…" Broggy said.

"They have a big reason to go to the next island," Dorry finished.

"What are they doing?" Nami asked.

"I'm not sure," Gwen replied.

"You have protected our honor with your lives," Dorry said.

"So," Broggy said. "No matter what will come…"

"We won't let anything happen to your flag!" Dorry declared.

"Trust in us," Broggy reassured them. "No matter what happens, we want you to keep heading straight."

"I've got it!" Luffy said. "I will."

Kevin tensed. "I don't like the sound of this."

"What is it?" Zoro asked.

"Something in my gut telling me that something bad's about to happen," Kevin told him. "And it usually does."

As the ship sailed past the giants, they both called "We shall meet again some day!"

"Look at that!" Nami cried.

The water in front of the ship was starting to rise up. Or rather, something _in_ the water was coming out.

Dorry narrowed his eyes. "So you've come out, Island Eater."

A giant fin came out of the water.

"What is that?" Ben asked. "Some kind of fish?"

Broggy grit his teeth. "In the name of Elbaf, we will risk our lives to open the way for you!"

Now the creature's head fully came out of the water. Sure enough, it was a giant fish. In fact, it looked like a gigantic gold fish bigger than any aquatic creature that Ben, Gwen, and Kevin had ever seen. It was even bigger than the Kraken that Ben met when he was ten years old.

"What is _that_?" Kevin shouted.

"It's…it's huge," Gwen said.

"Hurry up and change course or we'll be eaten!" Nami yelled at Usopp. But he was too busy staring at the Island Eater.

"That's huge!" he said. "A giant gold-fish? Sounds like I heard of it somewhere."

"Are you deaf?" Kevin asked Usopp. "Nami said to change course."

"No!" Usopp snapped at Kevin.

"No? What do you mean no?" Kevin demanded.

"We will head straight!" Usopp declared. "Isn't that right, Luffy?"

Luffy grinned up at his friend. "Yep. Absolutely."

"Luffy are you sure this is a good idea?" Ben asked.

"Of course."

"Don't be stupid!" Nami yelled. "This is different from Laboon!"

"I know," Luffy replied. "Why don't you stay calm?"

"How can I stay calm?" Nami asked.

"Nami," Zoro said while leaning against the ship. "I think you'd better give up."

Nami sobbed.

"Luffy," Sanji called. "Are you sure we can trust those giants?"

"Yes," Luffy said without a moment's hesitation.

"Are you serious?" Vivi asked him. "That giant goldfish is swimming towards us!"

"It's too late now!" Nami cried.

Everyone looked up and saw that the ship was already inside the Island Eater's mouth.

* * *

Dorry grinned. "The Island Eater. It sure has grown a lot."

"It's not only the size that scares people," Broggy said. "It has also eaten and destroyed many islands around here. They say it's poop is very long and big. They even said it's bigger than an island.

Dorry laughed. "Remember when we landed on one and that it was an island?"

"It's a very beautiful adventure," Broggy said. "When I saw those humans, they reminded me of our past together."

The Island Eater closed its mouth, taking the ship and its crew inside. Immediately both giants gripped their weapons tightly and held them like baseball bats, winding up for the hit.

"The only thing we can't pierce is a snake soaked in blood," Dorry said as he readied his sword.

"Take a good look at the legendary Elbaf's spear," Broggy said to the Island Eater.

* * *

"Keep going straight!" Usopp cried.

"We're already eaten, you idiot!" Kevin yelled. "It's too late now!"

"Keep going straight!" Luffy shouted.

* * *

Back outside, Broggy and Dorry swung their weapons at the Island Eater, unleashing two powerful blasts of air that managed to blow a gigantic hole on the Island Eater. And that powerful wind blasted the ship out of the Island Eater too.

"Yahoo!" Luffy cried. "We're flying!"

"How did we…?" Kevin was dumbfounded.

"Hold on to something!" Gwen yelled, not sure what was going to happen.

"No need to tell me twice," Nami said, clutching onto the railing for dear life.

Luffy grinned as he took in the sight of the sky. "Great," He said happily to himself. "This is great."

Usopp had tears running down his face but he also had a smile too. "They can even cut the ocean. This is the power of Elbaf's warriors. They're the best."

Ben snorted. "Big deal," He muttered. "I bet they can't shoot beams like Way Big can."

Back on the island, Dorry and Broggy, despite their weapons' shattering, were happy that they could lend a hand to the humans that they could become friends with.

* * *

And so it seemed smooth sailing now. With the adventure of Little Garden over, everyone was in high spirits, especially Usopp.

"Listen up, everyone!" Usopp announced. "One day, I will go to Elbaf's village."

"Good luck with that one," Kevin said as he sat down on the ship's stairs.

"Yeah!" Luffy said. "Let's go together to the home town of those giants!"

He and Usopp jumped on the railing and started chanted the word Elbaf.

Nami shook her head. "They sure are happy." Then she noticed Gwen leaning against the railing of the ship looking pretty worn out. "Hey, Gwen," she said as she walked up to her. "You okay?"

Gwen, who had been staring at the ocean with a dazed off look, snapped out of it when Nami called her name. "Huh? Oh hey, Nami. I'm not sure. For some reason I feel pretty tired."

Nami grinned. "Probably all the excitement leaving your body."

"We did have quite a time in Little Garden," Vivi said.

Nami nodded. "And now we're finally heading to Alabasta. But I really hope nothing else happens to us on the way there."

Vivi smiled. "Yes, and I will definitely go back there! Because I am the only one who can free my country." Then her faced turned solemn as she looked at the ground. "I have to live and return to Alabasta."

"Relax, Vivi-chan," Vivi turned around to see Sanji with a plate of food in his hands. "You can always count on me." He held out the tray for her. "Just take a good rest and try my food. Would you like tea or coffee?"

"Mr. Sanji," Vivi said softly.

"It looks good," Luffy said as he drooled looking at the food.

"It looks delicious," Usopp agreed as he drooled too.

"Your portions are in the kitchen," An annoyed Sanji said.

Usopp and Luffy immediately dashed to the kitchen, leaving a sweatdropping Nami, Vivi, and Gwen behind.

* * *

At the back of the ship, Zoro was lifted gigantic weights, swinging them like a sword.

"2603!" Zoro said before swinging the sword again. "2604! We wasted so much time there. I'm still weak. I have to be stronger. I have to be able to cut through everything. Even steel."

* * *

Kevin ran a hand through his hair as he looked out into the ocean.

"What's up?" Ben asked as he stood by his friend.

"This whole place is up, Tennyson," Kevin replied. "I mean, people back on our Earth liked to imagine what parallel Earths were like. I just never thought…

"You'd never thought we'd be in a place that we could feel right at home in," Ben figured.

"Yeah," Kevin admitted. "With all these Devil Fruits and stuff, I'm not a freak or anything. They all think I'm just another Devil Fruit user here."

"Is that a problem?" Ben asked.

"Not really. It's just kinda strange going places where human beings can do things like we can."

"I think it's cool," Ben said. "Hey, maybe I should find a Devil Fruit and eat one. Then I could have my own super power! Do you think it could work with my aliens? Oh that would be so cool!"

Kevin shook his head. Trust Ben Tennyson to get hyped up for something like that.

* * *

Back with Nami, Vivi, and Gwen, the young Anodite wiped some sweat from her forehead. "Hey, guys," she said weakly. "I'm gonna go lie down."

"Sure thing, Gwen," Nami said. "Go ahead and take a rest."

"Thank you," Gwen said as she started walking toward the rooms. But she only took three steps when she collapsed. Immediately Vivi and Nami were at her side.

"Everyone!" Nami cried. "Come here, quick!"

"What?" Ben asked. "What is it?"

"Something happened to Miss Gwen!" Vivi cried.

Kevin was next to them as quick as a flash. "What?" he demanded. "What happened to her?"

Gwen was lying on the ground. Her body was sweating and her face was red.

"Gwen's a got a fever!"

* * *

 _ **AN: See you next chapter!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: One Piece and Ben 10 do not belong to me.  
**_

* * *

Kevin never felt so miserable in his entire life. After Gwen had collapsed, Nami and Vivi had carried her to the girls' room and placed her in one of the beds. But that did little to help her. Gwen's cheeks were red from the fever and she was sweating a lot. Standing in the room with her was pretty much everyone except Zoro, who said that he would navigate for a bit. Everyone was more concerned about Gwen so they didn't give it a second thought.

Sanji, who was also in the room, was looking heartbroken at Gwen. "Is Gwen-chan going to die?" he asked.

Kevin resisted the urge to punch Sanji right in his face. Gwen was sick and he was not going to do something to upset her.

"Maybe it's because of the weather," Vivi suggested. "One of the toughest obstacles in the Grand Line that everyone has to face is the sickness that is caused by the constant change in weather."

"I doubt it," Kevin said. "The weather's been fine so far."

"Didn't you three notice the weather change before you came to Whiskey Peak?" Nami asked Kevin and Ben curiously.

Kevin and Ben looked at each other nervously. They wouldn't know because Paradox had teleported them straight to Whiskey Peak.

"No," they both said.

Nami frowned. How in the world could they not have noticed weather changes in a place like the Grand Line? "Maybe it wasn't the weather," she admitted. "Otherwise the rest of us would have gotten sick."

"Maybe she should eat chicken noodle soup," Ben suggested.

"That works for colds," Sanji said. "But I don't know if Gwen has a cold or not."

"Can't she use her magic to make herself feel better?" Luffy asked.

Kevin glared. "Does she look like she's able to do anything right now?"

"But why is Gwen the only one sick?" Ben asked. "Why aren't the rest of us sick?"

"It has to be something that happened to Gwen that didn't happen to us." Nami said.

Kevin's eyes widened. "Hold on a second. Back at Little Garden, Gwen had said something bit her. Thought it was a mosquito but…"

"That has to be it!" Nami said.

"Okay," Ben said. "Who on the ship is a doctor?"

Luffy and Usopp automatically pointed at Nami. "Hey!" she protested. "Sure I know some stuff but I don't know about this."

Kevin was angry. "You mean…you don't have a doctor on this ship?" He turned on Luffy. "What kind of crew is this if you don't have a doctor?"

"I'm with Kevin on this one," Ben said, looking slightly less ticked then Kevin was. "Don't you think it would be best if a doctor was on board?"

Nami nodded. "It's a good idea."

"Well come on!" Kevin said. "What are we waiting for? Gwen's sick and the rest of you are treating this like it's normal! Come on, move your butts already!"

Vivi, who had placed a thermometer in Gwen's mouth a few moments ago, pulled it back out. She was shocked at the results. "Her temperature is 104 degrees!"

"What?" Kevin and Ben both cried simultaneously.

Nami bit her lip. "Her fever's getting worse."

"We can find a doctor in Arabasta," Usopp pointed out. "How long does it take to get from here to Arabasta, Vivi?"

Vivi looked at her feet. "I don't know," she admitted. "But I don't think we can make it there in a week."

Usopp scratched his chin. "Couldn't we use Terraspin to help us get to Arabasta faster?"

"Even if Ben did use Terraspin," Nami said. "There's a chance that Gwen's fever might get worse. I don't think we should take a chance without an official doctor.

"Hey, Ben," Sanji said, looking at him. "Don't you have something in that gizmo of yours that can heal Gwen?"

Ben frowned. "Believe me," he said. "If I did, I would have done it in a heartbeat by now."

"Does a fever make you feel that bad?" Luffy asked curiously.

Kevin, annoyed by Luffy's ignorant attitude, angrily grabbed Luffy by his vest. "Want to know how bad it feels?" he threatened.

"That's enough, Kevin," Ben told him sternly.

"What is wrong with all of you?" Kevin demanded. "Gwen's getting worse and none of you seem to care."

"Of course we care, Kevin," Luffy told him. But this only made the Osmosian glare at him.

"You sure don't look like it," Kevin told him.

"I've never been sick before," Luffy admitted.

Kevin narrowed his eyes. "Well, we can't all be as lucky as you, Luffy."

"Kevin's right," Nami said. "We've got to do something. 104 degrees is bad for anyone. If we don't do something fast, she might die."

Kevin felt as if time froze for him. Gwen? Die? No. No, she couldn't!

Ben looked at the ground as he felt a heavy weight inside of him.

"Aaaaaah!" Luffy, Usopp, Sanji, and Carue all cried. Kevin and Ben flinched. Whether it was from Nami's words or the group's reaction was unknown.

"Gwen's gonna die?" Luffy cried. "Gwen-chan!" Blubbered Sanji, who had his hands clasped in prayer. "Please don't die!" Usopp and Carue were merely shouting their heads off.

Kevin tightened his fists before facing them. "WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP?!" He roared.

That immediately caused everyone to fall silent as they looked at Kevin in shock. Then they saw the look of pain and emotion on his face. Nami could tell that this was naturally affecting Kevin, and Ben who looked like a zombie right now, the hardest. But it seemed that out of the two of them, Kevin was really taking this the hardest.

"Guys," She said. "We have no choice. We need to find a doctor right now. I don't what disease this is, but I don't think Gwen's gonna make it all the way to Alabasta like this."

Vivi looked at the sick Gwen. She nodded. "You're right. We need a doctor for Gwen."

Luffy nodded as he folded his arms. "Alright! Let's go find a doctor to cure Gwen!"

Kevin looked like he was ready to throttle Luffy. "Keep your voice down, you rubber idiot!" he snapped. "You're gonna disturb Gwen."

"You…already woke me up…Kevin,"

Everyone turned at the bed to see Gwen looking up at them. But she looked exhausted. Kevin immediately felt guilty for his previous outburst.

"I'm sorry, Gwen," He mumbled.

"It's fine, Kevin," Gwen said with a sigh. Weakly, she started sitting up.

"Yay!" Luffy cheered. "Gwen's cured."

Usopp smacked him in the back of the head. "It won't be that fast."

"Hey, now," Nami said, stopping Gwen. "It's best if you just get some rest, Gwen. You shouldn't be up and about with a fever like that."

"But…"

"Don't worry, Gwen," Luffy said with a grin. "We'll find a doctor to take care of you."

Gwen weakly looked at him and smiled. "Thank you, Luffy." She looked at the others. "Thank you."

Nami smiled as she patted the top of Gwen's head. "Don't worry about it, Gwen. You just get some rest. I'm gonna go and see how Zoro's doing." With that Nami walked out of the room. Once she left, everyone's attention was back on Gwen.

"Do you feel better, Gwen?" Luffy asked.

Gwen shook her head. "Sorry, Luffy."

"It's okay, Gwen," Kevin said softly to her. "Just rest now."

"That's right," Ben said. "Leave the rest to us."

"Hey!" Zoro yelled from outside. "Get your butts out here!"

Ticked off, Kevin stormed out the room while the others followed after him. "What's the big idea?" he demanded from Zoro.

"We're changing the ship's course to south," Zoro replied calmly. Unfortunately his laid back personality was really ticking Kevin off. Especially with Gwen being sick like this.

"I don't feel like working with you ordering me," Sanji snapped at Zoro. Kevin nodded in agreement. Personally he wanted to be back in that room making sure that Gwen was alright.

"Shut up and do it," Zoro said. "Take the sail out."

Kevin snarled and was about to retort when someone grabbed his shoulder. He turned to see Ben shaking his head at him.

"I know how you're feeling," Ben told him. "But picking fights with everyone is _not_ going to make Gwen feel better."

Kevin grumbled as he shook Ben's hand off and started to help the others. Ben looked at him leave before looking at Nami.

"Nami, how come we're changing course?"

"There's a storm coming," Nami answered.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Storm?" He looked at the sky. While it was dotted with clouds, none of them looked capable of bringing a storm. "The weather looks fine to me."

"Never underestimate the Grand Line, Ben," Nami told him. "The weather's constantly changing." She grinned at him. "Lucky for us you've got Terraspin. His wind powers are perfect for a ship."

Vivi nodded. "With the Eternal Pose and Terraspin, the journey will go by smoother," Then she looked down. "But we still need a doctor for Gwen."

Zoro looked up. "A doctor? It's gotten that bad?"

"Yeah," Nami said. "And we don't how much worse it's gonna get." She paused and looked off into the sea. A troubled look was on her face.

"What's wrong, Nami?" Ben asked her.

Nami's eyes narrowed as she looked at the sea. "Something's coming toward us," she said. "It's a little different than a regular storm."

Vivi now had a worried look on her face too.

"Is it really that bad?" Ben asked.

Vivi nodded. "The Grand Line's weather is unpredictable." She looked at Nami. "But you're sure that a storm is coming?"

Nami nodded to her. "Yeah. There's something coming towards us. We need to get this ship turned around and start moving as soon as possible. Ben, you might want to get Terraspin ready."

"Got it," Ben replied as he went up to the upper deck of the ship. He looked at the others. "Ready guys?"

"Ready, Ben!" Usopp called out.

Grinning, Ben activated the Ultimatrix, switched the dial to Terraspin, and then slammed the dial down. In a flash of green light, Terraspin stood for all to see.

"Time to kick things up," Terraspin said in his gloomy voice. He dove into his shell and unleashed his wind powers upon the sail. As soon as he did, the ship rocketed forward, causing everyone to stumble backwards from the force.

"Yahooo!" Luffy called as the ship picked up speed.

Nami on the other hand looked back at where they just were. Her eyes widened when she saw that a cyclone had formed. So she was right.

Vivi had noticed Nami looking back, so she did too since she was curious as to why Nami would look back in the first place. When she saw the cyclone and realized that was where they had been before Nami made them turn around, she was amazed.

 _Incredible._ Vivi thought. _They say that cyclones in the Grand Line are storms that you can't predict but…_ She looked at Nami, who was still staring at the cyclone. _She doesn't just have navigating skills. It's as if she feels the changes with her instincts. I've never met a navigator like her before._

"Keep going, Ben!" Luffy cheered. "Keep heading south so we can find a doctor!"

Yeah!" Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro said. Carue quacked in agreement.

The only one who didn't say anything was Kevin, who simply looked back at the girls' room where Gwen was still resting.

 _Gwen._ He thought. _Hold on._

* * *

It was night time now. Mostly everyone was in the galley eating dinner. Nami had taken her food to the room so she could finish on some charts she was making. And to keep an eye on Gwen, who she would occasionally look at while working on her charts. She was so focused on only Gwen and her charts that she jumped a little when she heard a knocking at the door. She figured it had to be either Ben or Kevin. While the crew got along with the three new members, Ben, Kevin, and Gwen knew each other longer than the others. She walked over and opened the door. Sure enough, Kevin stood in the doorway.

"Hey, Nami," Kevin said in a low voice so he wouldn't disturb Gwen. "Can I come in?"

Nami nodded. "Sure thing."

Nodding as a thank you, Kevin walked in and was immediately by Gwen's side. "How is she?"

Nami looked at Gwen sadly. "Her fever hasn't gone down," she replied. "But at least it hasn't gotten worse."

Kevin snorted. "Yeah, for now." He took Gwen's hand in his and gently squeezed it.

Nami's eyes softened as she looked at the tender moment between Kevin and Gwen. "You really care about her, don't you?"

Kevin looked at Nami for a minute before looking back at Gwen. "You have no idea." He replied. He brought a hand to her forehead and gently ran his fingers through her hair. "She's done more for me than anyone else ever did." He closed his eyes. "And I never deserved any of it."

Nami smiled a little at Kevin. Even though the guy was often a smart aleck and a punk, when it came to Gwen…some tenderness would show.

* * *

The next day things had taken an unusual turn. It was snowing outside. And Gwen's fever had not improved. Due to the snow, Kevin was not in the mood to have Gwen get worse. Nami had Sanji go to the kitchen and prepare some warm soup for Gwen. She also did it so that way Kevin wouldn't get mad at Sanji for fawning over Gwen.

"Come on, Gwen," Kevin whispered gently to her as he took her hand in his again. "Just hold on. We'll find you a doctor soon."

Vivi and Nami shared a worried glance with each other. They were completely helpless since they didn't know what this disease was that Gwen had. And so far it was taking its toll on two people: Gwen _and_ Kevin.

* * *

Back outside, the other boys were keeping busy. Their main job was keeping an island out for any islands that might have a doctor on it. Zoro was looking around the seas with a pair of binoculars. "Hey!" he called down to the others.

Luffy looked up at him. "See any doctors?" He asked.

Ben frowned at Luffy. "We're in the middle of the ocean." He said.

Usopp nodded. "Ben's right, how do you expect to find doctors out here?"

Zoro continued looking through the binoculars."Have you seen someone stand in the middle of the ocean before?" he asked.

Well that was a weird thing to say. "Come again?" Ben asked Zoro.

"A person standing in the middle of the ocean?" Luffy asked.

Usopp looked at Zoro skeptically. "Have you gone insane, Zoro?"

Zoro looked straight ahead. "Then what do you all think of that?"

"Huh?" Ben, Luffy, and Usopp all looked in the same direction as Zoro. Then they had to rub their eyes to make sure that they weren't seeing things.

For sure enough, there was someone standing out there in the middle of the ocean. It was a large man dressed in some kind of outfit similar to that of a jester. A large bow and a quiver of arrows hung around his back. He just looked at them casually.

"Uhhhhhh," Ben said. "Ooookay. There's someone standing in the middle of the ocean."

"Looks like it's gonna be cold today," the strange man said with wide, wavy lips.

Ben sweatdropped. "Uh, sir? Do you know you're standing in the middle of the ocean?"

Just then a rumbling noise seemed to come from underwater. Before anyone could say anything, a ship came out of the water. It had a large dome on it, resembling a circular submarine. The top part of a sail stuck out of the dome. The jester looking man was standing on in the crow's nest, which explained how it looked like he was walking on water. When it rose up, it caused waves that rocked the Straw Hat's ship, the Merry Go.

"What is that?" Luffy cried as he looked up at the giant ship. "A watermelon?"

Ben, who has hanging onto the railing, looked at Luffy. "How in the world does that look like a watermelon?"

* * *

In the kitchen, Sanji was moving back and forth to catch all the dishes that were flying here and there.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Control the ship! If anything happens to Gwen-chan's soup, I'm kicking all of you overboard!"

* * *

Back in the girls' room, Nami and Vivi had been knocked to the floor by the shaking. Kevin practically threw himself onto Gwen so that she wouldn't fall off the bed.

"Why is the room shaking?" Vivi asked as she tried to get back up to her feet.

Nami growled as she looked at the door. "What are those idiots doing?"

Kevin glared at the door. "I don't know but I'm about to find out. You two look after Gwen." With that, Kevin stomped to the door and threw it open. "Alright just what is…" Then his eyes landed on the strange ship in front of them. "What the…?"

Just then the dome split into different sections and lowered into the water. With the dome gone, everyone could see that it was a colossal ship with a figure head that resembled the face of a hippo wearing a crown.

"Are you surprised?" A voice called from the ship. "This is our war submarine, Bliking!"

Kevin growled in annoyance. "We don't have time for this."

"This is bad," Usopp grimaced. "It's a pirate ship!"

"So cool," Luffy said as he looked at the large ship.

Ben frowned at him. "Is this really the time, Luffy?"

Zoro narrowed his eyes at the ship. "Why are they here while we're busy?"

Back at the kitchen, Sanji managed to set all the dishes down with dropping a single one. After checking to make sure that nothing happened to Gwen's soup, he decided to find out what the heck was going on outside. "Hey!" he called as he walked out the kitchen. "What happened?"

The next thing Sanji knew, he was surrounded by men wearing thick coats who had guns aimed straight at him. Calmly, Sanji drew his matchbox out of his pocket. Pulling a match out, he scratched it across the box so that it could ignite and then he used it to light the cigarette in his mouth.

"So," he said. "What's going here?"

"Our ship is under attack," Luffy said from his spot, where he too was surrounded by gunmen and swordsmen. In fact, everyone was surrounded by these invaders.

"Really?" Sanji asked Luffy casually. "That's what I thought, too. Based on what I see."

Kevin glared at the enemies. "You guys have a death wish?" he threatened them. But the invaders, cocky because of their numbers and weapons, merely snickered at Kevin's threat.

"Hmm," new voice said. "6 people? You only have six people."

The gang turned to see someone walking on the plank that connected the ships together. It was a large, roundish man with a cylinder shaped chin covered in tin plates. He seemed to wearing some kind of fur coat. It looked like a hippo but there was a chance that the man's size had stretched the coat out. He was chewing on a piece of meat that had been skewered by a dagger. Just then the man took a bite out of the meat and dagger!

"Anyway," the man said while chewing. "Let me ask you a question."

Kevin stared. "Did that guy just…"

Ben blinked a bunch of times. "How did he…"

Usopp made a face. "My mouth hurts just watching him."

"We want to go to the Drum Kingdom," the large man said, throwing the hilt into his mouth. "Do you have a Log Pose or an Eternal Pose?"

Kevin was about to retort but Sanji answered first. "Nope," he said. "And we've never of that country before."

"Hey!" Luffy called to the man. "Since you're done with your business, why don't you just leave?"

The large man sighed. "Why do you have to be so cruel? If you don't have it, why don't I just take all your treasure then?"

"Say what?" Ben reacted.

"But before we do that," the massive man said. "I'm kinda hungry." He looked over at the railing. Suddenly his mouth expanded as he chomped down on it and took a large chunk out. The six boys were speechless as the man started munching on the railing in his mouth.

"Is he human?" Usopp cried.

"Hey!" Luffy yelled. "Don't eat our ship!"

"Okay," Ben said as he activated the Omnitrix. "It's Hero Time!" he slammed the dial down. When the flash of green light went away, the gunmen all gasped at what stood before them. It was a twelve foot tall alien with a very well developed body and two pairs of muscular, four fingered arms. He sported a ponytail and had a dark line that ran from the bridge of his nose down to his neck. He was shirtless, wearing two gold sashes that crossed over his torso with the Omnitrix symbol on his torso's center. The red giant wore briefs along with gold braces on his wrists and ankles. He gazed at the gunmen with four pairs of green eyes.

"FOUR ARMS!" the being yelled in a gruff voice.

"What the…" the large man cried.

"So cool!" Luffy said as he stared at Four Arms in wonder.

Zoro grinned. "Now _that's_ a form."

"Monster!" the bad guys cried. They were about to shoot and stab at Four Arms when the red giant brought all four of his hands back before slamming them together. The result was a powerful shock wave that blasted the gunmen around him backwards.

The other foes' attention was drawn on Four Arms. This allowed Kevin to grab some of their swords. Before they could fire, Kevin was covered in the metal from their swords. Grinning, he formed his mace and hammer fists and started pounding away at any one unlucky to get in his way. Some idiots tried firing at Luffy but they all bounced off his rubber body and back at them.

"They want to fight!" Someone shouted. "Shoot them!"

Zoro grinned as he drew his swords. "Way to start things off, Ben."

"We can start the fight, right?" Sanji asked.

Usopp on the other hand was crawling down the mast as bullets flew at him. "Hey!" he cried at them. "I think we can negotiate."

"Right," Kevin said. "And this is how I negotiate!" He started plowing his way through the attackers.

* * *

The sounds of gunfire and fighting came from the Merry Go. Back on the Bliking, the rest of the large man's crew merely listened to the noise, believing their crew mates to be the winners.

"They've started it," said the large archer to his ally, a dark skinned man wearing a large yellow cloak with afros on each end. The man had a large afro on his head and three small afros on his beard. The afro man smirked.

"What a bunch of idiots," he said. "I don't understand why they want to die that much."

* * *

Back at the girls' room, Nami and Vivi's eyes widened when they heard gunfire.

"That's a gun's noise," Vivi said. She saw Nami running for the door and followed after her. "Carue! Watch Gwen!"

Carue saluted her.

* * *

Back outside, Sanji kicked one of the attackers in the back of the head, making the guy slam into the deck.

Some guys tried shooting Kevin, but their bullets bounced off his metal body. The young Osmosian responded by powerhouse blows to their faces.

The biggest threats at the moment were Four Arms and Luffy, who were moving like juggernauts. No one had the chance to retaliate against the colossal alien before he wound up smashing those brick house fists into them. Or when the rubber boy would shoot his fists all over the place like paddle-balls. Anyone unlucky enough to be in the way of his fists soon crumpled to the ground.

Zoro sighed as he slashed through some of the attackers. "They're all show." He muttered.

"We don't have time for this," Kevin said as he slammed his sledgehammer fist into one guy's gut. "We need to get Gwen to a doctor now!"

"Lord Wapol!" one of the men cried. "These people are…" But that's as far as he got when Four Arms brought one of his fists down on the guy's head.

The large guy, most likely Wapol, was chewing on more of the ship's railing. "This ship sure is tasty," he mumbled out as his mouth was full.

"Hey!" Luffy yelled as he punched some of Wapol's men out of his way. "Are you still eating my ship?" he charged at Wapol. "Stop right there!"

"Don't worry, Luffy!" Four Arms called. "I've got him!" he ran at Wapol.

"Those idiots dare to challenge Wapol?" one of Wapol's men said.

"Lord Wapol!" another cried. "Crush him with the power of the Munch Munch Fruit!"

Four Arms paused in his attack to look at them. "Munch Munch Fruit? What kind of power is…?" But he never got to finish his sentence because Wapol's mouth grew gigantic. Before Four Arms could make any type of attack, Wapol chomped down on him. His entire body was almost all the way in Wapol's mouth with only his legs sticking out. And they were kicking like crazy.

"Ben!" Usopp, Sanji, Zoro, and Kevin all cried.

"Hey! Let me out of here!" Four Arms tried struggling in Wapol's mouth open but the massive man seemed to have a pretty strong jaw. Wapol struggled to keep his jaw shut while Four Arms was struggling to get out. So far, neither side had any leverage over the other.

 _Man._ Four Arms thought as he tried to pry himself out. _How strong is this guy's mouth?_

"What is he made of?" Wapol asked as he tried to get a good bite out of his "snack". "He's really hard to chew."

"Darn you!" Luffy yelled. "Let Ben go!" He shot his arms back so far that they stretched right off the ship.

At that moment, Nami and Vivi came out. Sanji, who was standing near the door, noticed them. "Nami-san, Vivi-chan, is there something wrong with Gwen-chan?"

"We heard noises out here and thought…" Nami started to say.

"Gum Gum…Bazooka!" Luffy yelled, slamming his fists into Wapol's stomach. The blow made Wapol spit out Four Arms and flew far off into the distance.

"Lord Wapol!" all of Wapol's men cried out for their captain.

Vivi stared at Luffy in amazement.

Four Arms on the other hand was not in a good mood. As he got back to his feet, he was disgusted to see that he was covered in drool. "Thanks, Luffy." He said as he turned back to normal.

Kevin chuckled. "Guess you didn't taste very good, Tennyson."

Ben glared at him. "How about we stop talking about it?"

"Lord Wapol!" The jester looking man cried. "This is bad! Lord Wapol has been thrown away!"

"Lord Wapol doesn't know how to swim either!" the afro guy yelled.

Kevin sneered. "Well, sucks to be him."

"We need to help him before he drowns!" the afro guy shouted to the rest of the crew.

"Hurry up!" the jester urged them. "Otherwise Lord Wapol will die!" He looked up at the Straw-hat Pirates and pointed at them. "Next time, we shall take our revenge!"

"Yeah!" the afro man taunted. "So just remember us!"

The men that were still onboard the Merry Go quickly grabbed their wounded and dashed off the ship as fast as they could. Once the crewmen cleared off the ship, the Bliking turned tail and ran away.

"What was that all about?" Nami asked.

"Some pirates trying to go to a place called Drum Kingdom," Ben said. "They asked if we had a Log Pose or an Eternal Pose there."

"And then the big guy started eating the ship!" Luffy cried.

"Eat the…" Nami saw the bitten off part of the ship. "Wow."

Vivi bit her lip as she looked at her feet. But no one was paying attention to her.

"But if it wasn't for Luffy," Kevin said. "Ben would have been that guy's main course."

Ben sighed. "You're never gonna let me live this down are you?"

"Heck, no," Kevin said. "It was way to funny."

"How is it funny?" Ben asked.

"Because you always wind up getting eaten," Kevin replied.

"You do?" Luffy and Usopp asked Ben.

Yeah," Ben said grumpily. "Don't remind me."

* * *

It was night time now and things still hadn't improved for Gwen. Nami was impressed that the girl managed to sleep through the whole thing. And Kevin's sourness had gone up too. According to him, that Wapol guy had caused them to waste too much time when they needed to find a doctor for Gwen. That led Nami to forbid the others from seeing Gwen, as she feared that Kevin would take his frustration out on them. Especially Sanji.

The next problem that Nami needed to worry about was clothing. They were in a cold area and Ben admitted that they hadn't packed any winter clothing, which was not good. While Ben could turn into things like NRG or Swampfire, they still needed to find ways to keep warm if off the ship.

But for now, Nami was walking back to the girls' room with bowl of hot soup for Gwen to eat. She opened the door and walked inside. Kevin was right where she left him, sitting next to Gwen's bed. He turned his head to see who had walked in.

"I brought the soup," Nami said, holding up the bowl to prove it.

Kevin nodded and mumbled "Thank you" before looking back at Gwen.

Nami looked at Kevin sadly as she put the soup down on her desk. "You should get something to eat, Kevin."

"I'm not hungry," Kevin replied as he continued looking at Gwen; as if he thought looking at her would make her feel better.

"Kevin, I know you're worried about Gwen but starving yourself is not going to make her better," Nami said. "What would Gwen want you to do?"

Kevin clenched his fists tightly. He knew exactly what Gwen would want him to do. She'd want him to take care of himself. That would be just like Gwen. Always caring about him. In fact…he was pretty sure that she was the one who cared about him the most. Even after everyone else would write him off and give up, Gwen never did. When he went on that rampage after absorbing the alien forms from Ben's previous device, the Ultimatrix, everyone, including Ben, had decided to go ahead and kill him. Not Gwen. Gwen was the only one who still believed in him. She had actually fought her own cousin just to make sure that Ben didn't do him in. And even after all that Kevin himself had said and done to Gwen, she still did everything she could to turn him back to normal. She didn't care what happened to her. All she cared about was bringing him back.

 _What could I have possibly done in my life to deserve someone like her?_ Kevin thought as he felt his eyes water. _Nothing I can remember._

But he knew that worrying Gwen because of his reluctance to eat was not something he was going to do. So instead, he leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before walking towards the door. As he opened it, Kevin turned one last sad look at Gwen before walking out and gently closing the door behind him.

Nami smiled as she looked down at Gwen, who had not stirred even from the kiss. "You're really lucky, Gwen. To have a guy like him." She would wait until the soup cooled just a bit before walking the redhead up.

The next day had come and things might have gotten worse. It was getting colder now and three of the crew didn't have the proper protection against such a climate. And Gwen's temperature had risen. Well, sort of. Ben had turned into NRG to help with repair the damage Wapol had caused yesterday. He used his powers to emit heat from his body. But he kept it to a minimum so the ship didn't combust because he got carried away. Kevin on the other hand was right by Gwen's side to make sure that her fever wouldn't get even worse from the cold.

"I don't understand," Usopp said as he gathered some wood to fix the partially chomped railing.

"What's wrong, Usopp?" NRG asked.

"About those pirates that we met yesterday," Usopp replied. "I've never heard of those pirates before. But their ship was very good."

"Whatever they are," Sanji called from the crow's nest. "Just don't pay them any attention. They're just a bunch of idiots. Shouldn't be better than that."

"I have to agree with him," NRG said. "Mr. 3 was more of a challenge than Wapol was."

"By the way," Sanji said. "Do you think it's too quiet and cold around here?"

"Huh?" NRG asked. "Quiet?"

"Yeah," Usopp said as he started hammering in some planks to fix the railing. "But I think something's going to happen later."

NRG frowned as he helped hold the planks in place. Not that anyone could see it since his armor covered his body. "Do not jinx us, Usopp."

"It must mean that there's an island around here," Vivi said. "Sanji-san, please be careful on the ship's route."

"Vivi-chan?" Sanji asked.

"There must be a winter island around here," Vivi explained.

"Winter island?" NRG asked. "What's that?" Clang! Usopp's hammer had hit against NRG's armored hand.

"Sorry about that, Ben," Usopp said sheepishly.

But NRG ignored him to listen to Vivi.

"They say there are four different types of islands in the Grand Line," Vivi said. "Which are winter island, spring island, summer island, and fall island. And each of these islands will have four different types of seasons."

"Uh…what?" NRG asked as he scratched the top of his armor the way one would scratch the top of their head.

"To make it easier to understand," Vivi said. "While we are traveling along the Grand Line, we will be facing sixteen different types of weather. From the summer of Summer Island to the Winter of Winter Island. Besides that, we will face many unexpected obstacles along the route."

"I see," Usopp said. "Because there are many different types of islands between the route, the weather will be unconscious and unpredictable."

"Right," Vivi said. "Based on the calm weather, it means that there is an island around here."

Sanji looked through the binoculars. "You're right," he said. "I see an island." Then he yelled out so the whole crew could hear. "There's an island ahead of us!"

"An island?" Luffy asked excitedly from the kitchen. Then he dashed outside so that he could see it.

Kevin felt his heart race when he heard Sanji say "island". There might be a doctor on that island. And then they could cure Gwen. He looked at her. "Hold on, Gwen. We'll find help soon."

Nami smiled. There was a big chance of that happening.

Luffy on the other hand was sitting on the figure head and looking at the island with glee. "It's so white!" he said. "It must be snow! So it's a snow island!"

"Hey, Luffy!" Sanji said. "I must tell you that we won't have time to play around or look around. Our main purpose is to find a doctor to cure Gwen-chan. After that, we go straight to Alabasta."

But Luffy was too busy staring off in the distance at the island so he didn't hear a thing Sanji said.

"He is easily amused," NRG said as he walked up to Sanji and turned back to normal.

"You have no idea," Sanji said.

"Wait a minute," Usopp said. "Do you think that we'll be safe is there going to be a monster on the island? How can you be sure that we'll find humans? I don't want to go."

Ben groaned. "Hey, you were the one who said that you wanted to be a great warrior of the sea, right? How do you expect to be one if you chicken out all the time just because things look bad?"

Usopp froze. Ben had a point. His dream was to be a great warrior of the sea. But if he let his fear always get the better of him…what right did he have to call himself one?

"And we don't have much choice," Ben told him. "If there are humans on that island and they can heal Gwen, we have to see."

Usopp sighed. "You're right, Ben. Sorry."

Ben softened. "No problem. Besides, if there is a monster on the island, I can take care of it."

Soon the ship came to the island and sailed through the river in the middle. Everywhere you looked, the entire place was covered in snow. In the distance stood large, cylinder shaped mountains covered in snow. It was truly a winter wonderland.

"Yeesh," Ben said as he rubbed his arms furiously. "It's freezing."

Nami frowned at Ben. "Maybe you should have stayed as NRG. At least you wouldn't be cold when you're a walking furnace."

"Tell that to Luffy," Usopp said. Luffy was sitting on the figurehead, looking in delight at all the snow that lay before him. Tears were dripping down his face.

"So much snow," Luffy muttered. "I'm so happy."

Vivi was looking at Ben in concern. "Ben, you and Luffy should get inside. It's -10 degrees Celsius out here. That's around the time a bear hibernates."

"Good grief," Ben muttered. "I'm surprised I'm not a popsicle already."

"Eh?" Luffy asked as he looked at the others. Suddenly he started rubbing his hands. "Brrr. It's so cold!"

"You just now realized that?" Usopp, Sanji, Nami and Ben all yelled.

"We can't go any further," Vivi said when the ship came near a dead end made by the land. "I think we'd better stop here."

Zoro, who was outside with them and wearing a thick coat, folded his arms. "Who's going to look for a doctor?" he asked. "Well, just look for people first."

"I will," Luffy said after donning a coat.

"I will go too." Sanji said, pumping his fist.

"Same here," Ben said.

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Sure you'll be okay? You look a little under-dressed."

Ben grinned. "Don't worry." He lifted his left arm to show the Omnitrix. "I've got plenty of guys who can handle the cold."

Nami sighed. "Just don't get carried away, Ben. We've already got one person on this ship sick and we don't need another one."

Ben couldn't help but agree to that. After all, he knew what happened whenever he got sick. It wound up affecting his aliens too. So far, only Heatblast actually benefited whenever he got a cold.

"Very good," Usopp said. "Just hurry up and go."

"Stop right there, pirates!"

Everyone turned to see that they were completely surrounded. People stood on both sides of the riverbeds. And most, if not all, had weapons.

"Hey!" Luffy said. "There are humans!"

"But they don't look friendly," Usopp said.

Ben nodded as he readied the Omnitrix.

A large, muscular man wearing a green winter coat, looked down at the Straw-hat crew. "Get off this island," he said. "You're not welcome here."

Ben frowned. These guys must really hate visitors.

"We're looking for a doctor," Luffy told them.

"We have a sick person on board!" Vivi cried.

"That trick won't work on us you evil pirates!" the people yelled.

Ben's eyes narrowed. "It's the truth!" he said.

"This is our village and we won't let you in!"

"Just get out! Otherwise we'll shoot you!"

Sanji let out a puff of smoke. "They just met us, but they act like they've hated us for 100 years."

"Shut up!" one person yelled as he fired at Sanji. But Sanji managed to dodge out of the way in time.

"What are you doing?" Usopp yelled at the gunman. Sanji glared up at the guy.

"Are you trying to mess with us?" he asked angrily. The gunman gulped and his gun wobbled in his hand. Sanji was about to run at him but Vivi got in the way.

"Stop, Sanji," she said. Just then another gunshot was heard and Vivi fell. The crew's eyes widened in horror.

"Vivi!" Luffy cried.

Ben's eyes hardened. "Okay that's it, it's Hero Time!" He activated the Omnitrix. "Let's see how you guys like Humungousaur!" he slammed the dial down.

When the green light went away, it was not Humungousaur. Instead there stood an alien with a mainly black body and yellow colored torso, hands, feet, and spiky shoulder blades. His hands and feet looked like crab claws and the Omnitrix symbol rested in the center of his chest. But that wasn't the most unusual feature about this alien. The most unusual feature was his head. Unlike the rest of his body, it was pure metallic with a yellow eyebrow-like crest on his forehead, and green eyes. It also hovered between his shoulder blades.

"LODESTAR!" the new alien cried in a mechanical voice despite its mouth not moving. "Okay, not what I wanted…but maybe I can use this."

"Eeeeeeh?" Luffy said excitedly, completely distracted from his anger. "His head is floating!"

"So that's Lodestar," Nami said looking quite amazed.

"Monster!" the gunmen cried. "Get ready!"

Lodestar looked at them. "I don't think so." What appeared to be green wave started coming out of his body. At first the people were all confused by what was going on. Then their weapons started flying out of their hands. Even Zoro's swords.

"Hey!" Zoro said in annoyance. "Watch what you're doing, Ben."

"Sorry, Zoro," Lodestar said. "I guess I have too much of a _magnetic_ personality."

Luffy burst out laughing. "Good one, Ben!" He cheered.

"What the…" the people all cried. Everyone's guns were being pulled out of their hands and towards the Merry Go. Once Lodestar made sure that he had all the weapons, he ceased the waves, causing the guns to fall in a colossal heap on the ship.

"What's going on?" Kevin called as he came out of the girls' room. He saw the giant pile of guns and other weapons like swords or pitchforks, then looked around to see the crowd of stunned people on either river bed. "Let me guess…welcoming committee?"

Lodestar nodded before looking at the island's inhabitants. "If we wanted to destroy your village, do you think we would pretend that someone was sick?" he asked.

The villagers were frozen, not sure what to do. All their weapons had been taken away by that creature.

"Ben! Wait!"

Lodestar turned to see Vivi slowly sitting up.

"Vivi," Lodestar said as he ran to her side. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Vivi reassured him. "The bullet just missed me."

"That's right!" Luffy yelled as he faced the villagers. "You guys shot Vivi!"

"Luffy, don't!" Vivi cried before Luffy could make a move against the villagers. She then looked at them. "We won't go into your village. Our friend is in a serious condition."

"That's right!" Kevin said. "She's sick and she really needs to see a doctor now!"

"We don't mean you any harm," Lodestar reassured them. Then he turned back to normal. "We just want my cousin to be okay."

Luffy looked at the scene before him. And he realized that if he let his anger get the better of him, it wouldn't help Gwen at all. He looked at the villagers. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault." He got down on his knees and bowed. "Please get a doctor!"

A moment of tense silence passed afterwards. Naturally the villagers were wary. They had lost their weapons and one boy could turn into some kind of metal headed monster.

But the large man in the green coat could see that this could not be an act. If that boy could take all their weapons away, he could probably have used them to slaughter everyone by now. Even though the pirates had the advantage, they were still willing to get down on their knees and beg.

"I will show you to our village," he said. "Just follow us."

Relieved looks and smiles came upon the faces of everyone on the Merry Go.

Vivi smiled. "See, they understood us."

Luffy looked at her. "Yes. You've done a good job.

"But let me tell you something," the muscular man said. "We have only one doctor and she is a witch!"

"Eh?" the majority of the crew said.

"That's okay," Luffy replied. "Our friend's a witch too."

Kevin scowled at Luffy. "Don't call Gwen a witch."

* * *

Well, after the crew returned their weapons to the villagers, they were on their way. But Nami knew that things needed to be done. She had Zoro and Sanji stay behind to guard the ship. With Gwen in her condition, she knew that Sanji would try to be all chivalrous to her. That in turn would annoy Kevin. Eventually one was going to do something that would tick off the other and send them into a fight. And a fight among the crew was not something they needed right now. So Sanji was back on the ship with Zoro while Kevin was carrying Gwen on his back. The poor girl was wrapped up in one of Nami's extra coats that she had bought. Kevin had been annoyed when she said she had forgotten that she had them. But he was relieved that Gwen now had something to wear in the cold. If only there were extra male coats for Kevin and Ben to wear.

Ben noticed that the villagers were looking at him uneasily. While it was understandable, considering what he had done as Lodestar, it still irked him because it reminded him of how Will Harangue would always call him either a threat or menace. And right now the villagers were looking at him like a threat, the greater of the two evils.

"By the way," he said, trying not to think about it. "What's the name of this place anyway?"

The large man looked at Ben. "This country has no name."

Vivi looked at him curiously. "Doesn't have name? Is that true?"

"Aaaah!" Usopp cried. "A bear! Everyone pretend to be dead!"

Sure enough, there was a bear walking in the opposite direction the crew and villagers were going. It was pure white…and walking upright with a cane? Ben and Kevin rubbed their eyes to make sure that the cold hadn't messed with their vision.

"That's just a hiking bear," The large man replied. "He's not dangerous but don't forget to bow to him to show your manners." He bowed to the pair and immediately everyone else followed, even Carue. Ben did as well and quickly nudge Kevin so he would do it too. Snorting, Kevin bowed but he did it slowly so that Gwen wouldn't fall over. The Hiking bear bowed back to them as both parties continued on their ways.

* * *

Back at the Merry Go, Sanji and Zoro were not in the best of moods. Mainly because they were forced to guard the ship together.

"Nami-san," Sanji sobbed. "Why did you leave me with this crap-swordsman?"

"I can hear you, Curly-brow!" Zoro snapped at him. Then he started remove all his clothing until he was just wearing his pants.

"Oi!" Sanji snapped. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm practicing," Zoro replied.

Sanji raised his curly eyebrow at him while smoking his cigarette. "Practicing what?"

Zoro walked over to the edge of the ship. "If I have a strong will and enough practice, I can swim in the winter."

That caused Sanji to take a gasp of air, which unfortunately also made him inhale his cigarette's smoke. After he sputtered for a bit, he glared at Zoro. "You're gonna do what?!"

* * *

As for the others, they were led to what appeared to be a quaint little village. Aside from the occasional pause to look at the newcomers, they went about their ordinary lives. Ben and Kevin could make out goats and what appeared to be furry hippos.

"This is our village," the large man said.

"Wow!" Luffy said as he took in the sights. "There's lots of weird animals here."

"This really is a winter land!" Usopp said.

"Quack!" Carue agreed.

Kevin snorted. "I've seen weirder."

"And I've been in colder places," Ben said, remembering their trip to that one planet that was half a frozen wasteland while looking for one of the pieces to the Map of Infinity.

The large man on the other hand turned to the rest of the villagers. "Thank you, everyone. Besides the people who are on guard duty, the rest of you can go back to work now."

"Are you sure that you will be okay, Mr. Dalton?" one of the villagers asked. "These people are pirates."

"I believe we can trust them," Dalton replied.

Vivi looked at Dalton curiously. "You don't have any armies?"

"The villagers are the armies," Dalton explained. "Let's go have a rest at my house."

"Look, Luffy!" Usopp cried. "A hiking bear!"

"Again?" Luffy asked as he, Carue, and Usopp immediately bowed.

Ben and Kevin sweatdropped at who they were bowing to. It wasn't a hiking bear. It just happened to be a particularly large woman. Nami shook her head at Luffy, Carue, and Usopp.

"I heard that the pirates are coming to our village," the woman said. "Is it going to be okay, Mr. Dalton?"

Dalton, who was also sweatdropping from Luffy, Carue, and Usopp's antics, said to her. "Don't worry. Everything is fine."

"Elections will be held in two days, Dalton," a nearby man said. "I heard that everyone is going to vote for you."

Dalton looked at the ground. "I'm not worthy. I'm just a sinner."

The Straw-hat crew looked at each other curiously. What did he mean by that? Sure the guy was a little bit gruff when they first met him, but the villagers seemed to like him. Dalton led them to his house.

"You can use the bed over here," Dalton said, indicating the bed. Kevin immediately walked over to it. Nami and Vivi followed him so that they could get Gwen off his back and safely onto the bed.

"Let me introduce myself," Dalton said. "My name is Dalton, I'm a guardian of this island. Please forgive us for treating you so bad at the port." He looked over at Vivi. "Let me ask you something."

"Eh?" Vivi asked when she noticed Dalton's attention was directed at her.

"I've felt that we've met before," Dalton said. "Who are you?"

Vivi became nervous. "I've think you've mistaken me for someone else. By the way, can you tell me more about that witch?"

Dalton had noticed Gwen and went to check her temperature. His eyes widened when he looked at his thermometer. "107 degrees," he said.

Kevin paled. "Her temperature's gone up."

"If her temperature increases any more, she will die," Dalton said, looking at Gwen in concern.

"We know all that," Nami said. "But we don't know what caused it or how to cure her."

"Well we think it was a bug bite but that's not important," Kevin said. "We need to find a doctor to cure her. So where is this witch you talked about?"

"Did you see that mountain outside the window?" Dalton asked, not removing his eyes off Gwen's sleeping form.

"Which one?" Kevin asked as he turned around to see outside the window. What he saw instead was a snowman's head. "What the…" He pressed his face against the window to see why a snowman was standing in his view. Turned out that it was Luffy's handiwork. Next to it was some kind of giant snow lizard that Usopp made.

"Mr. Snowman!" Luffy cried happily, high-fiving Usopp.

"This is Snow Monster Shirola!" Usopp cheered.

Angrily, Kevin barged outside and kicked both of the snow creations to heaps of snow.

"Oi!" Luffy yelled. "You killed Mr. Snowman!"

"Shirola!" Usopp wept. "Kevin, how could you?"

Before Kevin could do anything, Nami appeared out of nowhere and bashed both boys on the top of their heads. Massive lumps now formed.

"Get in here," Nami hissed at the two as she dragged them inside. Stunned for a brief moment by that completely unexpected event, Kevin shook his head and followed her back inside.

"Sorry about that," Nami said as she plopped Luffy and Usopp onto the floor "Please continue."

Blinking a little at the two boys, Dalton continued his tale. "Do you see that large mountain in the middle of the others? If you look, you'll see a castle at the top."

Kevin, Nami, Ben, and Vivi all looked out the window towards the middle mountain. Sure enough, they could just make out the outline of a castle.

"I see it," Ben said. "Is that where the witch lives?"

"That's right," Dalton said. "Doctor Kureha, the only doctor on this island. The one people call a witch."

Kevin groaned in annoyance. "Figures. The one doctor in this place and she lives all the way up there."

"Do you have some way to contact her or something?" Nami asked Dalton.

"I want to do that," Dalton replied. "But there's no way we can contact her."

"Then how do you know she's a doctor?" Ben asked.

"She is a very good doctor," Dalton reassured them. "But she's a very strange 140 year old woman."

"A 140 years old?" Everyone cried. Carue quacked in surprise.

"She also likes pickled plums," Dalton added.

Ben made a face. "Okay, how does knowing she likes pickled plums help us?"

"And how can a 140 year old person still be a doctor?" Kevin asked.

"Despite her age," Dalton said. "She's quite agile and very good at her work. She'll show up at the village without warning and will look for anyone who needs a doctor and treat them. Afterwards she'll take anything that she likes as payment."

"She's really bad," Usopp said, having regained consciousness.

"Sounds like a pirate," Luffy agreed.

"But how can she get down here?" Vivi asked.

"That's what I'd like to know," Ben agreed.

"The rumors say that she rides a sleigh down here," Dalton said. "However, some people say that she flies to the village. That's why people call her a witch. Besides, people also say that she lives with a weird creature that no one has seen before."

"Ah!" Usopp cried. "That must be a monster because she's living on top of the snow mountain! A witch and a monster? Please don't come to me!"

"Quack!" Carue agreed.

"As I said," Dalton told them. "She's the only doctor but no one wants to get involved. With her, the only thing we can do is to wait until she comes down here."

"Forget it," Kevin said. "I ain't waiting for her."

"What do you intend to do?" Dalton asked. "Climb up the mountain? That's suicide."

Just then, Luffy went over to Gwen and started to lightly slap her face. "Hey! Gwen! Gwen!"

In an instant, Kevin slammed Luffy against the wall. "Do that again and see what happens." He threatened.

"I was just gonna ask if she wanted to take a hike," Luffy replied.

"What?"

"Uh,"

Kevin and Luffy looked to see that Gwen had opened her eyes.

"She's waking up," Luffy said. "Gwen, if we don't go to the mountain, we can't see the doctor. Let's go hiking."

"Are you crazy?" Nami demanded.

"It's okay," Luffy answered. "I can carry her."

"Yeah, and maybe her condition will get worse." Nami said.

"What? I'll take her to the doctor," Luffy said. "She should be better soon."

"Luffy, look at that mountain!" Vivi said, pointing at it. "You can't climb it."

"I can too," Luffy said.

"You can, but Gwen can't," Usopp argued.

"If we fall down, the snow will save us," Luffy said.

"If you fall down, you are going to die for sure," Nami said.

"Besides, Gwen's temperature is 6 degrees higher than a normal person's!" Vivi pointed out.

"Tennyson!" Kevin said as he rounded on Ben. "Say something. Gwen's your cousin!"

"I know that," Ben said. "And as crazy as it sounds, Luffy's got a point."

"What?" The others except Luffy cried.

"Look, you said yourself that we can't wait," Ben told Kevin. "Our best chance for Gwen to get better is if take her to the castle."

"And risk her dying on the way there," Nami said. "Climbing up there is too dangerous."

"That's why I'll come along," Ben said. "My guys can handle climbing up a mountain. Believe me when I say that I've been through worse."

Kevin's eyes narrowed. "If you're going, then I'm going too."

Ben shook his head. "Forget it, Kevin. I can handle going up that mountain but you might freeze to death."

"So you expect me here to sit here and do nothing?" Kevin demanded.

"What Ben is saying is to have faith in him," Nami said. "I think Ben's got the best chance out of all of us to make it up the mountain."

"Him?" Dalton asked. "Why him?"

Nami looked at Dalton. "That monster you saw earlier is just one of many that Ben can turn into."

Dalton's eyes widened. "He can turn into more?"

"A lot more," Vivi admitted.

Kevin clenched his fits tightly. "Fine, Tennyson. I'll leave this to you."

Ben nodded.

"But I warn you right now," Kevin added. "If anything happens to Gwen I'll…"

"Don't worry," Ben said. "If anything happens to Gwen, I'll let you."

Ben nodded as he activated the Omnitrix. "I think Big Chill's the best one to use." He slammed the dial down.

In the flash of green light, a different alien than Big Chill stood. Instead Ben had transformed into a flaming humanoid being made of flaming red rocks with magma in the cracks on his body. His hands had grown in size and looked like they could pack a punch. His head was literally on fire.

"HEATBLAST!" the new alien cried. Suddenly the fiery sockets widened. "Oh man!" He ran towards the door, opened it, and dashed outside in under a minute.

Dalton stared opened mouthed at what he had just seen. Was it his imagination or did that boy turn into a being made of fire. He looked out the open door. Sure enough, the boy was now completely made of fire and molten rock. The spot of snow he was standing in was starting to melt away.

"Wow!" Luffy cried.

"Fire monster!" Usopp cried.

Nami sighed. "Relax, Usopp, it's only Ben."

Kevin groaned. "Great. Just great. That watch just _had_ to mess up at a time like this."

"What's wrong, Kevin?" Vivi asked.

"Heatblast can't touch anything without it eventually bursting into flames," Kevin explained. "He can't carry Gwen like that."

"I'll carry her then," Luffy said. "Ben can come with me."

"We don't have much choice right now," Heatblast said from outside. His flames had melted part of the snow and now they fell into it. Of course his heat was making more of the snow melt.

"He's right," Nami said reluctantly. "Luffy and Ben really do stand the best chance out of us."

"What about me?" Kevin asked.

"If you went, you'd freeze to death," Dalton said. "I don't know a lot about your friend, Ben, was it? But I do see that fire creature he became will help him survive in the mountains."

Kevin sighed as he looked at his feet. As much as he didn't want to admit it. This was the best option. "Fine."

* * *

"Stand still," Vivi said as she used a rope to tie Gwen around Luffy. He was carrying her on his back and Vivi was making sure that Gwen was secured to him. "There."

"Alright," Heatblast said to Luffy. "Ready to go?" Luffy nodded.

"We'll wait for you here," Nami told them. "Even if we did go with you, you'd have us to worry about too."

"Understood," Heatblast said.

"If you must go up the mountain," Dalton said. "I recommend you go the opposite way. This route is full of Laphan. Meat eating rabbits who are very powerful. If you run into a group of them, you can't survive."

"Rabbit?" Luffy asked. He looked at Heatblast. "But we're in a hurry. Just don't worry about it."

Heatblast nodded. "Don't worry. If any of these rabbits do come along, I'll just roast them."

Luffy grinned as he started running towards the mountain. "Then let's go Ben, before Gwen dies."

Heatblast growled. "A little insensitive, Luffy?" He asked as he ran alongside him.

Dalton watched as the two, and their passenger, headed towards the mountain. "Will be they be okay?" he asked.

"Don't worry," Usopp assured him. "They'll be fine."

"But I'm not sure if Gwen can make it," Vivi admitted. "I wish all of them luck."

Kevin glared at her but Nami but a hand on his shoulder.

"All we can do now is hope Ben and Luffy can make it," she told him. Kevin did not reply. Nor did she expect him to.

Dalton looked at the other four. "Why don't you all come inside? It's cold out here."

"It's okay," Vivi replied. "I want to stay out here."

"Me too," Usopp said.

"Same here," Kevin said.

Nami shook her head. "Oh no, you don't. You don't have a coat like we do and I'm not about to tell Gwen her boyfriend froze to death." She started pushing him towards Dalton's house. "In you go!"

"Hey, quit pushing me!" Kevin snapped as Nami continued shoving him into the house.

Dalton chuckled. "You have quite an unusual group with you." He said to Vivi and Usopp, who nodded. "Actually, there used to be many doctors in this town."

"Eh?" Vivi asked.

"Then why are they all gone?" Nami asked from the doorway.

Dalton sat cross legged on the ground. "About 2-3 months ago, this country was destroyed by a group of pirates."

Vivi, Usopp, and Nami all gasped. Even Kevin's attention was caught.

"So that's why you were so mean to us," Vivi said.

"Yes. Everyone still remembers how cruel these pirates were," Dalton replied. "There were only five pirates in that group. Their captain was known as "Blackbeard". Our country was destroyed within a short period of time.

"Are you kidding?" Nami asked. "Your country was destroyed by only five pirates?"

"Blackbeard?" Kevin asked himself. "Wasn't there a pirate in our world who was called that?"

"However," Dalton continued. "Some people say it turned out to be good."

"Good?" Vivi asked. "What is so good about having your country destroyed?"

"That's right!" Usopp agreed.

"It's all because the government was very cruel to the people," Dalton explained. "This country used to be known as the "Drum Kingdom". And the emperor's name was King Wapol. He was an awful king."

Nami, Kevin, Usopp, and Vivi all gasped. Wapol? That was the guy who had attacked their ship!

"Oh boy," Kevin muttered.

* * *

 _ **AN: Hope you enjoyed!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: Neither Ben 10 or One Piece are owned by me.**_

* * *

This is awesome!" Luffy cried happily.

While Heatblast was not much good for carrying someone, he found other ways. Right now, Heatblast and Luffy, who was carrying Gwen, were riding on top of a rock that's bottom half was covered in flames. Heatblast had explained that he was able to use this as a mode of transportation. And Luffy loved every minute of it. They were going pretty fast up the mountain. While it would have taken hours for any person to travel by foot, these boys had found a faster way.

"Faster!" Luffy cried. "Faster!"

"I can't," Heatblast admitted. "If I do, then I might knock you and Gwen off."

"Oh, right," Luffy said as if he had just figured this out. He looked up at the sky. "It's getting colder."

"Really?" Heatblast asked. "I didn't notice."

Luffy stuck his tongue out. "That's because you're made of fire, fire-head."

"Hey!" Heatblast protested. "Don't blame me for my watch messing up. It's not like I asked to be Heatblast."

"Still," Luffy grumbled. "You get to be all warm." He started moving closer to Heatblast so he could feel the heat that the Pyronite was giving off.

"Hey!" Heatblast said again. "Ever hear of personal space?"

"Your fault for being so warm," Luffy pointed out.

Heatblast grimaced. "So what, I'm your personal heater now?"

Luffy frowned. "It's cold. No fair that you get to be warm."

What both of them didn't noticed was a small, but rather big for its size, rabbit that had been watching them as they flew by. While the small rabbit had never seen such a thing like the red creature, it was plain to see that the three strangers were lunch. But they were going pretty fast. It would need help if it wanted the prey.

"Hey, Luffy," Heatblast said.

"Yeah?" Luffy asked.

"Do you think this doctor is really a witch?" Heatblast had plenty of experiences with witches before. Particularly Charmcaster. And he didn't want to go up against someone like that right now. Especially since they needed this doctor to help Gwen.

"Of course she is," Luffy said. "That man back there said she was."

"But do you think she'll heal Gwen?" Heatblast asked him.

"Don't worry!" Luffy said with a grin. "We'll be fine! Come on! Let's get going."

Shaking his fiery head, Heatblast put a little more power in the rock and they picked up some speed. But the higher they went, the heavier the snow started to fall.

"It's snowing pretty heavy around here," Luffy noted as he trudged through.

"No kidding," Heatblast said. "I can barely see anything in front of me." But he was able to get a good view of what lay in front of him. It made him come to a complete halt.

"Hey!" Luffy protested. "Why'd you stop, Ben?"

"Uh, Luffy?"

Luffy looked at Heatblast. "Yeah?"

"I think we've got company."

Luffy looked ahead. In front of them appeared to be a whole bunch of colossal rabbits.

"What are those?" Heatblast asked.

"Giant creatures with white fur," Luffy replied. "They must be polar bears."

Heatblast would have believed that if it wasn't for the long ears. It clearly meant they were rabbits.

"Uh, Luffy?" Heatblast said. "Remember those meat eating rabbits that Dalton guy mentioned?"

"Yeah, what about them?" Luffy asked.

Heatblast gulped. "I think we just ran into them."

The next thing the two knew, one of the giant rabbits shot leaped into the air above them. Sharp claws extended from his paws as he swung them at Luffy and Heatblast. Both leaped off the flaming rock before the rabbit could attack them. But to Heatblast's shock, the rabbit managed to smash the rock!

Luffy wasn't surprised. In fact, he looked ticked. "Hey, you!" he yelled. "Leave my nakama alone!" He pulled his leg back. "Gum Gum Stamp!"

It was a straight bull's eye as Luffy's kick smashed right into the rabbit, sending it crashing into some of the nearby trees.

Heatblast just gapped. "Nice shot," He rubbed his flaming head. Then his eyes widened. "Luffy, look out!"

Luffy turned in time to see another giant rabbit lung towards him. Luffy was about to attack but Heatblast got there first. He shot a stream of fire from his hand, striking the Laphan before it could attack Luffy. The animal's fur was on fire, causing to screech and start rolling in the snow to put the flames out. Hearing a growling noise in the distance, Heatblast and Luffy saw that there were more Laphan. A _lot_ more.

"Oh, great," Heatblast groaned. "Being attacked by giant killer rabbits. Kevin's not gonna let me live this down."

"What's the problem?" Luffy asked. "Let's just fight them."

Heatblast nodded reluctantly. "Like we have a choice? Just be careful with Gwen, okay?"

One of the Laphan was right in front of Luffy and swung his claw at the rubber pirate. Luffy slammed his foot into the rabbit and sent it tumbling to the ground. Another was about to retaliate when Heatblast shot flames at the creature's fur. Luffy turned around and saw that another rabbit was sneaking up on Heatblast. Luffy pulled his leg back and fired. "Gum Gum Stamp!"

At first Heatblast thought Luffy was kicking him, but then Luffy's foot flew past him. Heatblast heard the cry of pain coming behind him and turned around. Luffy had struck a Laphan that had attempted to sneak up on Heatblast. Heatblast mumbled thanks as the two turned to face the rest. He tried to scare them away by shooting a jet of flame but the rabbits jumped into the air over the flames. They looked ready to belly-flop the climbers.

"Move it!" Luffy yelled as he started running to the woods on the right. Heatblast quickly jumped out of the snow and followed him before he started to sink again. The rabbits all landed in the ground where the two had originally been standing in but when they saw their prey running off, they immediately ran after them.

"This is crazy!" Luffy cried as they continued running.

"You think?" Heatblast asked him sarcastically as they continued running.

Just then a Laphan came at them from the side. Luffy quickly dispatched it with a Gum Gum Stamp. They really needed to get out of here fast. Carrying Gwen on his back prevented Luffy from using his fists in this fight. And Heatblast couldn't use much of his powers here in the woods or he'd risk making a forest fire. Another Laphan came at them which Heatblast dealt with by delivering a fiery uppercut to its jaw. It went down but more bounced along to take the place of their downed kin.

"Ben!" Luffy yelled. "Let's go up there!"

Heatblast turned to see Luffy pointed to an upper part of the mountain. "Alright!"

Luffy leaped into the air first. A Laphan leaped after him but Luffy merely used it as a stepping stone to get to the ledge. The Laphan collapsed into the snow. Heatblast fired jets of flames at the ground, blasting him into the air and landing next to Luffy. The two wasted no time in running again. But when they turned around after hearing thumping noises, they saw that the Laphan were with them.

"They just won't quit!" Heatblast groaned.

"Let's run to the top of the mountain!" Luffy yelled.

The two started running like mad to get away from the rabbits. As they did, they looked behind to see how close the rabbits might have caught up to them. However, much to their surprise, the rabbits were not running after them. Instead, the large number of giant rabbits were jumping up and down in session. Luffy and Heatblast shared a confused look with each other before looking back at them.

"What are they doing?" Luffy asked.

"Beats me," Heatblast admitted. That's when he heard a rumbling sound. "Luffy? Please tell me that was your stomach."

"Huh?" Luffy asked. "What was?"

Slowly, Heatblast turned his head up towards the mountain. If he could, he would have paled. "Luffy!" he yelled. "Run!"

"Run?" Luffy asked. "Where?"

"Anywhere!" Heatblast yelled as he started running. "They're trying to cause an avalanche!"

"Avalanche?" Luffy asked.

And then they saw it. The biggest avalanche either had ever seen. Down, down it come, that colossal tidal wave of snow.

"Run!" Heatblast yelled. Not that there was anywhere to actually run to, but it was better to at least try and find shelter instead of doing nothing. The boys started running off to the side, hoping to either find shelter or at least get to a part of the mountain that wasn't covered. Hey, they were desperate.

"Can't you melt that?" Luffy yelled at Heatblast.

"Are you kidding?" Heatblast asked. "That's way too much snow for me to melt. I couldn't melt all of that even if I was NRG." Then Heatblast's eyes landed on a nearby cliff. "Luffy! A cliff!"

"Cliff?" Luffy asked, as he looked in the direction Heatblast was looking at.

"Head there!" Heatblast yelled. They immediately ran towards the cliff.

It was going to be close. The snow was catching up to them, ready to engulf them. Then, with all the will power the two could muster, they leaped into the air and landed perfectly on the cliff. For a second, they thought their worries were over. Until they saw that they weren't high enough to escape the avalanche. They didn't have any time to react as the snow plowed into them and swept them off their feet. Surprisingly, Luffy had a cool head on his shoulders at the moment despite the situation.

"What are we going to do?" he asked himself casually. Then a thought popped in his head. "I've got an idea."

Heatblast on the other hand was not faring well. He had landed in the snow and knew he needed to get out. If his stayed there too long, his heat would melt the snow and cause him to get burried for sure. And the large mass of snow would probably be able to smother out his flames. And if his flames went out while he was Heatblast, he could die.

"Ben!" Luffy yelled, seeing his friend in danger. "Grab my hand!" he removed one of his hands from Gwen's body and shot it towards Heatblast. Heatblast was too desperate to escape his snowy grave that he forgot about his body being made of fire and grabbed Luffy's hand.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" Luffy cried as he yanked Heatblast as fast as he could. Heatblast found himself pulled out of the snow and landed on something. He saw that Luffy had pulled him onto a pine tree that the rubber boy apparently pulled out of the ground.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Heatblast asked as they sled on the tree.

"We're safe," Luffy admitted. "But we're going down the mountain."

"Going down?" Heatblast repeated. "We need to go up! Try and turn this thing around!"

"I can't!" Luffy yelled.

But that was the least of the pair's problems. Because the Laphan were back.

"What the…?" Luffy asked.

"Not again!" Heatblast cried. "Can this get any worse?"

The tree they were standing on started to catch fire.

"Ben!" Luffy yelled, pointing a finger accusingly at Heatblast. "You jinxed us!"

Heatblast opened his mouth to argue but before he could, two of the Laphan leaped up and took swipes at them. Fortunately the makeshift and now flaming snowboard had managed to give them enough speed to avoid getting hit. But that was just the first attempts. As the rubber boy, the Pyronite, and the sick Anodite zigged and zagged all over the place, the Laphan were continuing their onslaught. They were like moths drawn to a flame. (No pun intended) Another tried to bite Heatblast and got a burnt mouth from the Pryonite. All the while, the flames on the snowboard were starting to get bigger. The speed they were going was able to prevent the fire from spreading too fast but it was only a matter of time before Luffy and Gwen were burnt or worse.

"Luffy!" Heatblast yelled. "We need to jump!" Then he looked ahead. "Heads up!"

Luffy looked ahead to see a cliff side right in front of them. "A rock?"

"Luffy!" Heatblast yelled. "Hold on!"

Focusing his power over the flames of the tree, Heatblast succeeded in making the tree's flames blast them into the air above the rock. But it wasn't as easy as using a flaming rock. Heatblast had to make sure that the fire didn't reduce the tree to ashes or burn Luffy and Gwen. At first it seemed that they would be okay.

And then Ben turned back to normal in a flash of green light.

"Oh, man!" Ben complained as the three plummeted to the ground. The flaming tree fell into the avalanche and was engulfed by the snow. Luffy managed to save himself and Gwen by stretching his arms out and grabbing the rock they had flown over. But when he turned to see where Ben went, he saw his green jacket wearing friend engulfed by the snow as well.

"Ben!" Luffy cried.

"Luff…" was all Ben could say before he submerged.

The Laphan weren't so lucky either. The avalanche they had caused was too much for even them to handle and they found themselves being swept away by the snow. But Luffy paid them no mind. He just wanted to find his friend.

"Ben!" Luffy cried again. He shot his arm towards his friend but it was too late. Ben had sunk and was covered by the snow. Horrified, Luffy climbed on top of the rock and gently put Gwen down. He removed his jacket and put it over Gwen like a blanket.

"Are you okay, Gwen?" He asked her. The young anodite was sound asleep, blissfully unaware of what was going on around her. Luffy put his hat next to Gwen. "Just hang onto my hat for me. I'll be right back!" Then without a second thought, Luffy dove into the snow to find where Ben had gone.

* * *

And things had not been going so well for the gang down below either. To give it to one in a nut shell, Dalton revealed the truth about Wapol. The ruthless man had been a cruel king to the people of Drum Kingdom. And when the mysterious Blackbeard and his crew arrived, Wapol and his entire army ran away without even putting up a fight. The civilians were forced to defend for themselves and Drum Kingdom had been destroyed. Dalton and those who refused to give up continued on, enjoying the life without Wapol, though they dreaded the day he might return.

And that day had come. Wapol had indeed come to the island. And he was not pleased to learn that the pirates he tangled with were on the island as well. He was determined to get his revenge on the pirates and claim his kingdom back. Dalton put up a brave fight but the Isshi-20, Wapol's personal doctors, aided the wicked tyrant. Dalton fell when Wapol's goons had used the civilians as targests, forcing Dalton to use himself as a shield to protect them. Afterwards, Wapol was on towards the castle, though he had been furious when he learned that Dr. Kureha was now living in there. But then the avalanche came. Sadly, Wapol and his men survived. Wapol assumed that the pirates from before had started that avalanche to try and kill him. Now he was more determined than ever to find and kill them. Together with his former minister of defense, Chess (the jester looking man) and his former magistrate, Kuromarimo (the afro man), Wapol continued on towards the castle.

When the avalanche had finally stopped, a good portion of the mountain and the valley had been completely covered in snow. For now, the mountain was silent and it seemed that there was nothing around. Except for one, small little laphan. It was digging furiously at the snow that had engulfed its parent. Nothing but the big one's paw was sticking out of the snow. At first it seemed hopeless. Then the little laphan heard a noise coming nearby. It looked up to see Luffy trudging through the snow. Gwen was on his back while he was carrying Ben. Luffy had been kind and wrapped his jacket around his shapeshifting friend. The infant hissed as Luffy drew near, suspecting an attack. But instead of attacking, Luffy grabbed the adult's paw and yanked the whole creature out of the snow with , the adult laphan stirred awake and stood up. The infant one immediately nuzzled up against its parent. The two looked on as Luffy carried both Gwen and Ben. Although they couldn't show it on their faces, both were extremely grateful to the stranger that had been kind enough to help them despite what they did.

But that didn't matter to Luffy. His only concern at the moment was the two he was carrying. Gwen was sick and he didn't know if anything bad happened to Ben during that avalanche. He needed to see the doctor more than ever, to make sure that both of his friends got to live.

"I will take you there," Luffy said to his two friends despite the fact that both of them were unconscious. "Then don't die. Both of you!"

"Look, King Wapol!" a voice cried behind Luffy.

"Let's kill them!"

Luffy turned around to see none other than Wapol and those two goons of his riding up to them on one of those furry hippos. Luffy simply stood there as Wapol rode up in front of him.

"Wait!" Wapol yelled at Luffy. "You've been disrespectful towards me too many times, you little brat."

"Get out of my way!" Luffy yelled. He had no time for this. His friends needed to see that doctor now.

"Are you dreaming?" Wapol asked mockingly before laughing. "Why do I have to let you go?" He looked at Gwen and Ben. "Those things that you are carrying are about to die anyway."

His face becoming one of anger, Luffy walked right past Wapol and continued walking onward towards the mountain.

"Hey, stop!" Wapol yelled outraged. He looked over at Chess. "I've come up with a new law, Chess. Whoever turns his back on the king shall suffer death."

"Yes, sir," Chess said as he started writing this ridiculous law down on a piece of parchment.

"Now," Wapol said to him and Kuromarimo. "Go and kill all of them whether they are weak or not!"

"Yes, my lord!" Chess and Kuromarimo both yelled as they leaped off the hippo and jumped towards Luffy.

"What the…?" Luffy exclaimed as he turned around to see the two flying towards him.

Kuromarimo's afro shaped gloves suddenly had spikes pop out. "Iron Punch!" he yelled as he swiped at Luffy. Luckily, the young captain was able to duck out of the way in time. He needed to fight back but it wasn't easy. Ben had asked him to be careful with Gwen and carrying an unconscious Ben at the same time kind of hindered his fighting abilities right now. Which meant…

"I can't fight them," Luffy whined as he started running as fast as he could. Not bad for a kid who was wearing sandals in the snow. "Stop following me!"

"You can't escape from me, you coward!" Chess yelled as he loaded three large arrows onto his bow and fired. They shot towards Luffy with excellent speed and accuracy. It looked like they were going to skewer for sure.

But Luffy was far from an ordinary boy. Just as it looked like the arrows were going to run the trio through, Luffy did a backflip. The arrows zoomed past him while he, Gwen, and Ben were all unharmed. Luffy quickly regained his balance and looked to see what surprise those three had in store for him this time around. But much to _his_ surprise, they weren't anywhere to be found.

"Where did they go?" Luffy asked himself as he looked around. How in the world did they disappear so quickly. "This is weird. Did they give up?"

But Luffy was so busy looking behind that he wasn't looking forward at all. Wapol, who had been posing as a cave, lunged forward at Luffy, ready to chomp him and his teammates in two. But Luffy's amazing reflexes kicked and he jumped up just before Wapol's massive chompers could clasp down on him and his pals. But then Chess and Kuromarimo shot out of the snow two.

"This is our fighting technique!" They yelled as they readied their weapons. "Hiding in the white snow!"

"Aaaaah!" Luffy cried as he realized that there was no place for him to escape.

But just then, two Laphan appeared and punched Wapol's two henchmen to the ground before they could attack Luffy. Luffy watched them in amazement as they all landed back on the ground.

"Laphan!" Wapol cried in surprise. "Are they protecting that kid? That's impossible! Laphan have never liked humans!"

Luffy looked at the giant rabbits curiously. Then he noticed the small rabbit hanging holding onto the shoulder of one of the adults. So that was the reason.

"Thank you for helping me!" Luffy yelled as he started running again.

"Hey!" Wapol yelled as he saw Luffy start to run. "Don't let him get away!"

"Yes, sir!" Chess and Kuromarimo yelled. But as the two men ran started to run after Luffy, the whole tribe of Laphan stood between them and the rubber captain. "What are they doing?"

As for Luffy. Well, his situation went from bad to worse. The higher he went up the mountain, the colder it got. And it was starting to snow again. Luffy looked at the unconscious Ben and remembered that he didn't have a jacket. Not wanting his friend to die, Luffy put his own jacket on his friend and continued onward. He wouldn't let the cold beat him. He wanted his friends to live. And for that, he needed to reach the top of that castle.

"Doctor," he said as he continued walking. "Doctor." Then he stopped when he came upon the giant cylinder mountain where the big guy said the witch lived. He looked up and found that he couldn't see the top of it. But if there was one thing that made Luffy stand out above the rest. It was that fact that he never gave up no matter what. "We're close." He told his friends. "Just hang in there, guys."

He flipped his sandals off, tightened the rope that tied Gwen to his chest, and gripped his jacket, with Ben in it, with his teeth. And then he started climbing. And that was definitely easier said that done. The mountain's cylinder shape made it very smooth and the crevasses in very narrow. Normally it would be near impossible to climb up such a mountain because you couldn't find any support in such a thing. But that didn't stop Luffy. And even if it was impossible, Luffy was the type of guy that would found a way regardless. Which was what he was doing right now as he continued climbing up that mountain. But even for Luffy it wasn't easy. Especially since he was carrying his two unconscious friends and doing his best to make sure that they didn't fall off.

Three hours passed and Luffy was still going upward. _Doctor. Doctor._ Was the only thing on Luffy's mind. They had to be near the top soon. Gwen really needed a doctor. Just then his thoughts were cut short as an icy wind blew down on him. With his own jacket keeping Ben warm, he had nothing for himself. So he pressed himself up against the mountain, which did little to no help at all. Then he cut his finger on the grooves in the mountain.

"Ouch!" Luffy cried out in pain. But that was a really bad mistake. By crying out in pain, Luffy had opened his mouth. And by opening his mouth, he dropped Ben. "Aaah! Ben!" He cried as the wielder of the Omnitrix started flying down to the ground below. Quickly, Luffy stretched his neck out towards and his friend and caught the jacket between his teeth. _That was close._ Luffy thought in relief.

With Ben safely secure, Luffy resumed climbing. As he did, the snow continued to snow. In fact, it became so bad that several of the trees below had become blanketed in the snow. But Luffy was too busy climbing up the mountain to notice this taking place. Luffy winced in pain as he cut his fingers again. He bit down on the part of the coat caught in his teeth this time instead of crying out in pain. _I won't give up._ He thought fiercely. _I will reach the top soon!_ With that thought in mind, Luffy continued climbing. This time with more vigor. So focused was he on finding the top that he completely ignored any pain he felt as he climbed up. As he climbed, he looked up. Then he saw it. The top of the mountain! Finding new found strength, Luffy put some more force and climbed harder. And when he finally climbed to the top, he saw before a large and majestic castle.

"Finally," Luffy said with relief. "I'm here." He took in the sight. "What a beautiful castle. Doc…tor," but exhaustion finally caught up with Luffy and he collapsed. But just as he had collapsed, the chunk of the mountain he was standing on broke off from the top. But just as he started to fall, a muscular arm grabbed his.

* * *

Back at Wapol, he stood triumphantly among the heap of fallen Laphan. "You brainless creatures!" he mocked. "You are just rabbits and you think you can defy the king?"

"I never thought that these rabbits could make us use our real power," Kuromarimo said as he stood on a fallen laphan's body.

"Well, it's possible," Chess admitted. "After all, these rabbits are the most powerful creatures around here."

"Hmph," Wapol said as he stomped on one Laphan's head. Then he looked up at the castle. "I will get you, kid!"

* * *

 _ **Inside the castle**_

"Doctor Kureha, the anti-body is working."

"Very good. Can you tell me what caused this?"

"Casha."

"That's right, you saw it too."

Gwen slowly opened her eyes. As her vision came to her, she saw that she was somewhere she had never been before. Confused, Gwen's eyes looked around. It looked like she was in a room that was a laboratory. Now Gwen was even more confused. Where in the world was she? And where were the others? Hearing a click click noise, Gwen saw…what appeared to be a tiny little reindeer walking on its hind legs while carrying a dish. It wore red shorts and a fuzzy, pale pink top hat.

"Hello?" she called out softly.

"Aaaah!" the little reindeer cried, crashing into a nearby desk out of fright.

"Oh!" Gwen cried, sitting straight up. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

The reindeer took one look at her and then ran over to one of the doorways. Or some reason it looked like he was trying to push against it while looking at her. Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Shu…shut up, human!" the reindeer snapped at her rudely before asking in a calmer tone. "By the way, how are you feeling?"

Gwen blinked in surprise that the little reindeer could talk but she figured that if he could walk on two legs and wear clothes, then he had to be able to talk. Then her brain registered his question. She put a hand on her forehead. "I feel much better now," she replied.

The little reindeer looked at her. "That's good." It said while looking at her nervously.

Gwen smiled. "It's okay. You don't have to be afraid of me. I won't hurt you."

The little reindeer looked at her doubtfully. Apparently this little guy was nervous around humans.

"My name's Gwen Tennyson," she said. "What's yours?"

The reindeer looked at her for a moment. "Tony Tony Chopper."

Gwen smiled warmly at him. "It's nice to meet you."

"Ah," said another voice. "I see our young patient has finally awoken."

Gwen turned her head…and blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Walking into the room was an elderly woman. But you could only tell that from her face. The rest of her body appeared to be that of a young woman. She even dressed the part, complete with navel ring and hipster pants. A bottle of alcohol was in her hand. The woman chuckled at Gwen. "Are you feeling better, little girl?"

Gwen blinked at this woman one more time before nodding. "I think so."

The woman walked over to Gwen and put a finger on her forehead. "38.2 degrees Celsius. Looks like you are getting better."

Gwen's jaw dropped. "You…you could tell my temperature just by touching my forehead?"

The woman grinned. "I'm Dr. Kureha. You can call me Doctorine."

"Doctor?" Gwen asked as she looked around. "Um…"

"You want to know the secret to my youth?" Dr. Kurehad asked suddenly.

"Oh, no, thank you," Gwen politely declined. "I was just wondering…"

"You are in the castle at the top of the mountain," Dr. Kureha explained. "Your two friends brought you here."

"Mountain?" Gwen asked.

"You really have no idea where you are, do you?" Kureha asked.

Gwen grinned sheepishly.

"You're in what was once called Drum Kingdom," Kureha said. "You came down with a bad sickness and your two friends carried you up the mountain to see me."

"My friends?" Gwen asked. "What do they look like?"

"One had a straw-hat and the other had a green jacket with the number 10," Dr. Kureha answered.

"Luffy and Ben?" Gwen asked.

Dr. Kureha shrugged. "If that's what their names are. They're sleeping in the other room. The one with the straw-hat snores pretty loud. Doesn't he know any manners?"

Gwen sheepishly shrugged. She hadn't been on the crew long so she wouldn't know much about Luffy's habits. Just then, Dr. Kureha walked over and partially lifted up Gwen's skirt. "Let's see…"

"Huh?" Gwen asked. Kureha seemed to be focused on some spot on her stomach. She looked down and saw several black spots. "What are those?"

"You were bitten by the insect called casha," Dr. Kureha. "It's a poisonous bug that lives in tropical forests."

Gwen's eyes widened. "The bug bite from Little Garden!" she realized. "I thought it was a mosquito bite!"

Dr. Kureha laughed. "Girl, this is no mosquito bite. When a casha bites someone, it will spread bacteria into that person's body. Within five days, that person will suffer from high fever. Later, it will affect the heart, brain, and every part of the body. Based on this here, I guess this is the third day after you were bitten. Its poison is very powerful."

"Day three?" Gwen asked. "But that means…"

"That's right," Kureha said with a grin that made her look like a witch. "In two more days, you would have passed away."

Gwen gulped.

"It used to be known as five day fever," Kureha said. "Casha have been extinct for over 100 years. You're lucky that I still had some anti-bodies. Where did you come from anyway? Did you just go and take a walk into an enchanted forest or something. But that sounds impossible."

Gwen chuckled. "Trust me, after all the things I've been through, nothing's impossible."

Kureha chuckled. "That so? What an interesting girl you are." Then she pushed Gwen back onto the bed. "Anyway, just go back to sleep. You are not completely cured."

Gwen looked at Kureha. "How long will it take for me to get better?"

Kureha looked at her. "It usually takes around 10 days to cure this sickness."

Gwen was horrified. "10 days? It will really take me that long to recover?"

Kureha chuckled. "Well, if you're eager to leave so soon, I suppose with my medicine, it will take about…three days."

Gwen looked at the bed. "Three days is better," she admitted. But what was she to do? They had already lost precious time getting Gwen to this doctor. If they had to wait even longer, who knew how long it would take for them to reach Alabasta?

Just then, Chopper was seen running in the room in a crazy panic. "Help me!" he screamed.

"Come back here, sweet meat!" Luffy yelled as he chased after the reindeer.

"Luffy!" Gwen cried as Luffy ran up and nabbed Chopper. The two of them started wrestling with each other. "What are you doing?" She created a tendril of mana and sent it towards Luffy. Before the rubber boy could do anything, he was wrapped up by the tendril and lifted into the air. Chopper and Kureha stared at this in wonder. Both blinked rapidly to see if the scene in front of them was some kind of hallucination.

"Well, well," Kureha said as she looked at Gwen. "You _are_ an interesting girl." Then she looked at Luffy. "What a surprise. You recovered very fast."

Chopper on the other hand was staring at Gwen's mana. He looked at her. "How…how did you do that?" he asked.

"Gwen uses magic," Luffy said proudly.

"Eeeeeh?" Chopper asked, looking at Gwen in amazement. "You can?"

Gwen laughed a little sheepishly. "You can call it that."

Kureha smirked. "Magic huh? How come you didn't use your magic to heal yourself?"

Gwen rubbed her head. "I was sleeping a whole lot. And I haven't really used it to cure diseases."

Chopper continued staring at Gwen.

"Now let me go!" Luffy yelled. "I want to eat!" He struggled as he tried to break free and get at Chopper. Chopper screamed and did what appeared to be hiding. Only he was hiding the wrong way, exactly like how he did when Gwen first met him.

"Luffy, leave him alone," Gwen said sternly.

"But meat…" Luffy whined.

"Monkey D. Luffy…" Gwen threatened.

Luffy opened his mouth to argue but Gwen gave him a hardened look. Luffy whimpered before relenting.

Chopper's eyes widened as he looked at Gwen. Kureha noticed Chopper looking at Gwen and grinned.

"Why…why did you save me?" Chopper asked her.

Gwen looked at Chopper in confusion. "He was trying to eat you. I wasn't going to let him do that."

"But…but why would you protect me? Don't you hate me?"

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Why would I hate you?"

"I'm a reindeer that walks on two legs and can talk," Chopper replied.

Gwen smiled. "So? I've seen weirder things than that."

Chopper looked up at her hopefully before his face fell.

"My nose is blue too," Chopper added as he looked down at the ground.

"What's wrong with that nose?" Gwen asked him. "I think it's cute."

Chopper gasped and looked up at her. "Cute? You…think my nose is…cute?"

Gwen nodded as she continued smiling. "I think it's the cutest little nose I've ever seen."

Chopper's jaw dropped as he continued looking at Gwen. Then…

"Jerk!" He yelled while dancing around with a happy look on his face. "That doesn't make me happy at all. Don't mess with me!"

Gwen giggled at Chopper's antics. He sure looked happy to her.

"Hey, Luffy," She said. "If you're awake, does that mean Ben's awake?"

Luffy nodded. "Yeah, he's still in bed though."

"Wouldn't be surprised," Kureha said. "He broke six of his ribs and his backbone was cracked."

Gwen paled. "Oh no, Ben!" she started to get up when Kureha pinned her to the bed and held a scalpel to her face.

"And where do you think you're going?" Kureha asked with a menacing grin on her face.

"Please," Gwen begged. "I need to see my cousin."

" _You_ need to rest," Kureha said. "Your cousin might take much longer to heal."

"But I can heal him," Gwen said. "Please, let me see him. Or…or bring him here. Please?"

"I'll bring him," Everyone looked at Chopper, who had spoken. "I'll bring him to you."

Kureha was surprised at first, then she chuckled. "Very well, Chopper. You'll need to use a stretcher. It's not good for a boy in that condition to be walking about."

Chopper nodded. "Yes, Dr. Kureha." With that he walked off.

Kureha looked at Gwen. "You're something, girl. I think Chopper's a little fond of you."

"Now, Luffy," Gwen said. "I'm gonna let you down now. If I do, will you promise not to go after Chopper?"

"I promise," Luffy muttered in annoyance.

Smiling, Gwen removed the mana tendril from Luffy, who landed on his feet.

"Hey, Gwen," Luffy said. "If you can heal people, does that mean you're our doctor?"

Gwen shook her head. "My powers can be good for healing, but it would still be better if we had a professional doctor on board." She looked at Kureha.

"I see," Luffy said. Then he looked at Dr. Kureha. "Join my crew."

Gwen's eyes widened. "Luffy, you can't just tell someone to join your crew."

"Please, auntie," Luffy begged.

Kureha looked at him. "Your name's Luffy, right?"

"Yes," Luffy replied.

Dr. Kureha suddenly kicked Luffy. "You better watch your language! I'm only 139 years old! I'm still young!"

Gwen's jaw dropped. This woman was 139 years old? How in the… But Gwen decided it was probably best for her health if she just kept quiet. Luffy on the other hand crashed into the wall. So, instead of causing more trouble, Gwen decided to change the subject.

"Dr. Kureha? Could you tell me more about Chopper?"

"He's just a regular blue nose reindeer," Kureha said.

"Do all blue nose reindeer talk?" Gwen asked.

Here, Kureha grinned. "No, he can talk because he ate the Human Human Fruit."

Gwen's eyes widened. "There's a devil fruit that lets you become a human?"

Kureha nodded. "That's right. But it would be useless if a human ate it. Anyway, that's what happened to Chopper. He ate the Human Human Fruit. Became even more of an outcast."

"An outcast?" Gwen asked.

"I'm back, Dr. Kureha." Chopper's voice said.

Gwen and Luffy turned their heads. And their eyes widened. A gigantic man-like being walked in carrying a bed with him. What shocked Luffy and Gwen was that this furry man was wearing the same hat and shorts like Chopper had been wearing. He even had the same blue nose.

"Thank you, Chopper," Kureha said. "Put him somewhere out of the way for me."

"Huh?" Luffy asked in shock. "You're that little reindeer!"

Chopper ignored him and put the bed he was carrying next to Gwen's bed. Gwen gasped when she saw who was on it. "Ben!"

Sure enough, it was Ben. But his waist was covered in bandages. He looked up at Gwen. "Hey, Gwen. How are you feeling?"

"A lot better," Gwen said as she looked at her cousin. "How about you?"

"Not so much," Ben replied with a small smile. "My back and side hurts."

"Here," Gwen said. "Chopper, can you bring him closer?"

Chopper nodded as he picked up Ben's bed and scooted it closer to Gwen's. Kureha watched curiously as Gwen put her hands on Ben's body. Hers started glowing with a purple aura. Luffy, Chopper, and Kureha watched all of this take place in amazement. Gwen began to chant in Latin. After a few moments, Gwen stopped glowing and removed her hands from Ben. "There, that should do it."

Ben slowly sat up. He poked his side. Then he leaned forward a bit. "It's gone," he said before grinning at his cousin. "Thanks, Gwen."

"That…that was amazing," Gwen looked at Chopper, who was back in his small form and staring at her.

"Hey there," Ben said to Chopper, causing the talking reindeer to look at him now. "I'm glad Luffy didn't eat you." He shot a glare at Luffy. "I would have stopped him but I could barely move."

"Gwen stopped me anyway," Luffy said with a pout.

"Well, serves you right for trying to eat a little guy like him," Gwen said.

"But he can turn into that big gorilla," Luffy pointed out.

"I saw," Ben said. "How did he do that?"

"Dr. Kureha said that Chopper ate a devil fruit called the Human Human Fruit."

"That's right," Kureha said.

"Human Human Fruit?" Ben asked. "Would that be one of the Zoan types?"

Chopper nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"That means you can become a reindeer, man, and a human/reindeer hybrid?" Gwen asked.

Chopper nodded again.

"That is so cool!" Luffy cried out in excitement.

"Odd," Kureha whispered to herself. "I never thought Chopper would be so social with any humans." She looked at Gwen. "Could it be because of that girl's kindness?"

"Hey, Ben," Luffy said as he pointed to Chopper. "Isn't he cool? He's a transforming, talking reindeer monster."

Chopper flinched when he heard Luffy call him a monster. Then his face became downtrodden.

"Luffy!" Gwen snapped at the Straw-hat boy. "How could you say that? Chopper is not a monster."

Chopper's head snapped up to look at Gwen. "You…you don't think I'm a monster?"

Gwen shook her head. "No. I've seen plenty of monsters before. And you, Chopper, are not a monster. I think you're one of the sweetest people I've ever met."

"That doesn't make me happy, you jerk!" Chopper snapped at her before doing a happy dance.

"He sure looks happy," Ben and Luffy said.

Kureha smiled to herself as she looked at Gwen. _That girl's got a kind heart. I think…I think she might be just what Chopper needs._

"So, Gwen," Ben said as he got off the bed. "You ready to head out?"

Gwen shook her head. "I can't. Dr. Kureha said that I need to stay in bed for three days at best."

"Three days?" Ben asked. "That bad? But we need to get to Alabasta."

Kureha raised an eyebrow. "Alabasta?" She asked. "Why do you need to go there?"

"To help stop a war," Luffy said bluntly, making Gwen and Ben sweatdrop at him.

"Tch," Kureha snorted. "So you want to get better just to go and get yourself killed anyway?"

"It's not like that," Ben said, though it was pretty much that.

"Oh?" Kureha replied slyly. "Then what is it?"

"Er," Ben said as he looked down at the ground.

"We need to help our friend," Luffy said determinedly.

Kureha smirked a little. These people were dedicated to those close to them, it was plain to see. "Could you boys be dears and put that bed back where it came from?" Kureha asked, pointing to Ben's bed.

"Huh?" Ben asked. "Oh, sure." He went over to the bed he had been sleeping on. "Hey, Luffy. Give me a hand will you?"

"Sure," Luffy went over and helped pick up the bed. Although Luffy could have easily picked it up by himself.

"Chopper," Kureha said to the reindeer. "Go with them. Those two look like they would get lost without some help."

"Hey!" Ben protested while Luffy just smiled.

Chopper nodded at the doctor. "Yes, doctorine." He walked over the door. "Follow me." He walked off with Luffy and Ben following him as they carried the bed. Kureha chuckled before sitting down.

"I think Chopper's taking a liking to you." She said to Gwen. Gwen looked at her curiously. "I think you might be the one to help him."

"Help him?" Gwen asked.

"That boy," Kureha replied. "Has a wound in his heart that even a doctor can't heal."

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked, looking confused.

"When he was born, he was rejected by his own parents," Kureha explained. Gwen gasped. "Because of his blue nose, he was left to walk alone in the back of the tribe since he was young."

"That's awful," Gwen said. "How could they treat a newborn like that?"

"It was tough but Chopper put up with it. Then came the day he ate the Human Human Fruit. The whole herd saw him as a freak and casted him out." Kureha continued.

Gwen looked sadly at the door that Chopper had just walked through.

"Since his own kind had rejected him," Kureha said. "He tried to live among the humans. But as you saw for yourself, his human form isn't perfect. He looks more like a gorilla than a normal man. The villagers would think he was an abominable snowman and then shoot at him."

"What?" Gwen yelled in outrage.

"And he didn't know who to blame," Kureha told her. "He just needs friends but people called him a monster. Like your friend did."

 _So that's why Chopper reacted like that._ Gwen thought.

"He's neither human nor reindeer. That's why he's always alone," Kureha said as she looked at Gwen. "Can you cure…his heart?"

"Yes," Gwen said without a moment's hesitation. "Because…I know how he feels."

Kureha looked at her. "You do?"

Gwen nodded. "I have someone, someone very close to me, who has gone through exactly what Chopper's been through. He was treated as a freak and a monster, when all he wanted was for someone to accept him. And…no matter what he did, I knew it was never his fault. He just needed help."

"Is that so?"

"Yes," Gwen replied.

 _Kevin. Chopper's just like you._

Kureha smiled. "There was a man, though. The only man that Chopper ever talked to. His name was Doctor Hiluluk, who used to live in this empire. He was just a quack doctor who gave Chopper his name and called him a son."

"What happened to him?" Gwen asked.

Here, Kureha sighed. "Dead."

Gwen gasped.

"All because of Wapol," Kureha said. "The former emperor of this place. He took the first real family that Chopper ever had. Hiluluk may have been a quack. But he wasn't such a bad guy at heart."

Suddenly Gwen flew off the covers and ran towards the door. She did it so quickly that Kureha was stunned for a moment. She was about to get up and chase after Gwen to make her sit back down but stopped. Instead she leaned back in her chair and grinned.

"Maybe it was fate that brought that girl here."

"Thanks for the directions, Chopper," Ben said as they started walking back. "Now let's get some place warmer."

"You, reindeer monster," Luffy said. Chopper looked at Luffy and saw him giving him a deep stare. "Join my crew."

Chopper suddenly slammed against the wall and his eyes bugged out of his sockets. "Whaaaaaaaaa?" he screamed.

Ben groaned. "Here we go again. Luffy, you can't just tell a guy to join your crew."

"So what?" Luffy asked. "He's a talking, transforming reindeer monster and I want him for my crew."

"Crew?" Chopper asked as he tried to get himself back under control. "That means…you guys are pirates?"

"Sure are," Luffy said. "And I want you to…"

"Chopper."

Everyone turned to see Gwen coming at the room. She paused when she saw Chopper. He on the other hand, freaked out.

"What are you doing out of bed?" he cried. "You're not fully recovered. Go back to bed now!"

But Gwen ignored him as she started walking slowly towards him. Chopper stopped in his ranting and slowly took a step back nervously. Soon, Gwen was in front of him.

"Hey, Gwen," Luffy said. "You all better now?"

"What's…?" Ben started to ask when suddenly Gwen got down on her knees and hugged Chopper tightly. Chopper's eyes widened as he was about to retaliate when…

"Chopper," Gwen said quietly. "I'm so sorry."

Chopper froze.

"I'm so sorry they treated you like that." She said kindly. "They had no right."

Chopper gasped.

"Gwen?" Ben asked.

"What are you talking about?" Luffy asked in confusion. Gwen ignored him and looked at Chopper.

"I want you to know," she said. "None of us will ever treat you like a monster. Luffy, Ben, and I have seen what a kind person you are. You're not a monster, Chopper. Don't ever think you are."

Chopper trembled slightly as Gwen held him tight. His eyes started to water up. This affection. This kindness. It was…it was just like…

Hiluluk.

Chopper remembered him well. The first person who was willing to see him as something other than a monster. The one who had taught him about saving lives and helping people. The man who wanted to make sakura blossoms grow in this land.

Then came that day when Hiluluk had become horribly sick. Even when Hiluluk had kicked him out, Chopper didn't want to lose the only family he truly had. He set out to find what he thought was the mushroom that could cure his "father". Chopper remembered returning to Hiluluk after the trialing journey to get the mushroom. He was battered, bruised, bleeding, but he felt triumphant.

That all came to a stop when Kureha showed up sometime after Hiluluk had left their home. She revealed to him that the mushroom Chopper had gotten was a poisonous mushroom, not a healing one. Chopper could remember it all. Wapol's top doctors, the Isshi-20 had been said to be sick and that Hiluluk had gone out to heal them. But it was a trap set by Wapol to kill all the remaining doctors who were not under his command. When Chopper got to Wapol's castle, it was too late. Hiluluk had died. And Wapol was to blame.

Chopper had tried to fight Wapol but had been stopped by Dalton. He explained to Chopper that it would be pointless to fight Wapol and that Hiluluk would have died in vain. So Chopper fled far away. He came to Dr. Kureha and she taught him everything he needed to know about medicine. While he loved Dr. Kureha dearly, not a day went by that he didn't miss Dr. Hiluluk.

Back in the present, Chopper started crying, startling Ben and Luffy. But the little reindeer was no longer paying them any mind and simply hugged Gwen back. She rubbed his back soothingly as he cried onto her shoulder.

"It's okay, Chopper," she cooed at him. "It's okay."

Luffy and Ben exchanged a confused look with each other. Luffy then looked back at Gwen. "What's going on, Gwen?" he asked.

"I'll explain later," Gwen said as she gently picked Chopper up and held him close to her. "But I can tell you…Chopper's been through a lot. Ben, think of what Kevin's been through, and you might have a good idea."

Ben's eyes widened and he looked at Chopper in shock.

"Huh?" Luffy asked as he tilted his head. "I don't get it."

"It is a long story, Luffy," Ben told him. "But I can tell you that Kevin had a pretty rough life. And Gwen's pretty much saying that Chopper's had a really rough life too." He looked at Chopper.

Luffy looked at Chopper again. Just then all three noticed something else as well.

"Cold," Luffy, Gwen, and Ben all muttered.

"Come on," Gwen said. "Looks go back to my room. It's warm there."

Nodding, Ben and Luffy followed Gwen inside the room. Kureha noticed Chopper being carried in Gwen's arms and grinned.

"So," Kureha said. "You're all back. It's nice to see you all getting along but girl, one more thing…"

"Hm?" Gwen asked. Suddenly Kureha's scalpel zoomed past her and stuck itself in the wall. Gwen took a shocked look at it and then back at Kureha.

"Next time you get out of bed without me telling you," Kureha said. "I'll make sure you stay in bed personally. Got that?"

Gwen nervously nodded as she put Chopper down and crawled back into bed.

"Wow," Luffy whispered to Ben. "Auntie sure is mean."

"What was that?" Kureha yelled as she threw a knife at Luffy, who narrowly dodged it. "I'm only 139 years old. I'm still young!"

Ben's jaw dropped when he learned Kureha's age. He was about to comment but after seeing that little knife throwing, decided just to keep his mouth shut.

"Now," Kureha said to Ben and Luffy. "There was something that did catch my interest as me and Chopper treated you two." She pointed at Ben's left hand. "I saw a strange device on your wrist, boy. Never seen anything like it before. And I know that it's far too complicated to be a Log Pose. Just what in the world is it?"

"It's a mystery device that lets Ben turn into monsters!" Luffy said with a grin.

Ben scowled. "Big mouth." He muttered.

"M…monsters?" Chopper asked, looking at Ben's left hand.

"That's right," Luffy said. "He can become a one eyed rock monster, a four armed monkey, a round rock monster, a dinosaur, a robot, a flying stingray, a turtle with wind powers, and…"

Kureha looked at the sleeve where the Omnitrix was concealed. "That…that device lets him turn into all that?"

"Yeeeeah, about that," Ben said.

"Can you really?" Chopper asked as he looked nervously at Ben. "Can you really turn into monsters?"

Ben cringed. "Well, I…"

"Sure he can!" Luffy said. He looked at Ben. "Go on, Ben! Show 'em! Turn into something."

Ben groaned. "Luffy," he muttered.

But then, Chopper froze. He started sniffing the air for a moment. Then his eyes hardened.

"What's wrong, Chopper?" Gwen asked.

"It's him," Chopper said as his face became furious. "Wapol."

"Wapol?" Ben asked. "That guy who attacked the ship?"

"That jerk attacked me on the mountain," Luffy said.

"Wapol?" Gwen asked. She looked at Kureha. "That guy you told me used to be the king?"

"That's right, girl," Kureha said. "Looks like the brat's back.

"Huh?" Luffy asked in surprise. "You mean that guy's a king? I thought he was a pirate."

Outside, Wapol had finally made it to the top. He was overjoyed to get a glimpse of his beautiful castle.

"Look!" he yelled happily to Chess and Kuromarimo. "Nothing has changed. Finally, I will reclaim my throne!"

Chess and Kuromarimo rose to their feet and prepared to head towards the castle. But then Chess saw something at the top that caught his eye.

"Wait a minute, King Wapol. There is a weird flag at the top of the castle."

"Huh?" Wapol demanded as he looked up at the top of the castle. On top of one of the towers was a pirate flag. It had a jolly roger with four sakura blossoms on it. Seeing the flag enraged Wapol.

"What is that pirate flag doing there?" Wapol demanded fiercly. "Where is the Drum Island Flag?"

Laughter came from the door. "I already burned that flag."

Wapol, Chess, and Kuromarimo looked at the entrance to the castle and saw Dr. Kureha and Chopper standing there. Chopper was in his Walking Point. Wapol's eyes narrowed.

"So," he said. "You finally show up. The last doctor on this island. Dr. Kureha. Why don't you just die?"

Kureha smirked. "This castle is Hiluluk's tomb. It's not a place for a rotten kid like you. Just get off this place. Drum Kingdom has already been destroyed."

"Tomb?" Wapol asked. "That stupid doctor's _tomb_?" He started laughing before saying. "That's pathetic."

Chopper gave him a dark look.

"Hey, you!" Wapol looked ahead to see Ben and Luffy running out of the castle. Luffy was wearing his black coat. Ben ignored the cold for the moment. "You got me bad last time!"

"King Wapol!" Chess cried. "It's those two kids!"

"Gum Gum…" Luffy said as he yanked his arm back, shocking Chopper and Kureha. "Pistol!" He was right in Wapol's face and delivered a powerful punch to the bratty king. And the massive man went flying backwards from the blow.

"King Wapol!" Chess and Kuromarimo both cried.

"What's going on here?" Kureha asked, looking at Luffy stunned. "First that girl, then the first boy, and now him?"

Chopper's jaw dropped. Was this all a dream? First there was Gwen who could do magic. Next was Ben, who was said to turn into monsters, and then Luffy, who had just stretched. Were…were they all different? Just like him?

Back to Wapol. He had nearly fallen off the top of the mountain but Chess and Kuromarimo had managed to prevent him from falling.

"Ugh, that was close," Kuromarimo and Chess said as they hefted their king back on the top.

"You treated me badly last time we met," Luffy said as he advanced towards the three. He grinned. "This time, I won't let you get away with it."

"Hey, Luffy," Ben said as he walked alongside his captain. "Save some for me too."

Kuromarimo snarled at them. "How dare you hurt King Wapol, the ruler of the Drum Empire?"

"That's right," Chess agreed. "Didn't you realize that King Wapol is a ruler who governs this country? How dare you fight against the king?"

"So what?" Luffy asked as he stretched his lips up to large proportions and stuck his tongue out at them. "I just know that I hate all of you very much."

Ben good naturedly rolled his eyes. That was Luffy for you. Then he shivered from the cold.

"Okay," he said. "I need to get warm now." He activated the Omnitrix. "Time to use Heatblast again." He slammed the dial down and was engulfed in a flash of green light.

But the form that he became was not Heatblast. Instead he became a colossal crab with a very big.

"BRAINSTORM!" the being yelled in a British accent. "Oh, confound this infernal Omnitrix! I fail to comprehend the reliability of such a redundant contraption if it does not provide the necessary specimen needed for this predicament."

"Aaaaaaah!" Chopper cried. "Giant crab!"

"Eeeeeeh?" Luffy looked at Brainstorm hungrily. "Giant crab?"

Brainstorm paled when he saw Luffy look at him like that. "Now, Luffy. Surely you have at least some form of intelligence in that elastic mound you call a head. It is I, your comrade."

Kureha was nearly speechless. "So he _can_ turn into a monster."

"Chess!" Kuromarimo cried. "Did you see that?"

"I sure did," Chess replied. "But I don't understand. Back when we attacked their ship, he became a four armed giant. Now he's a giant crab."

"Aaaaaaah!" Wapol yelled as he sat straight up.

"King Wapol!" Chess and Kuromarimo cried out happily.

Wapol looked over at Luffy, Brainstorm, and Chopper. "You really made me mad. I'll will eat you this time."

"If you will permit me to coin a phrase," Brainstorm said. "Eat this!"

Brainstorm's head opened up to reveal the brain underneath. Electricity gathered around his brain before shooting at a stunned Wapol. He yelled as the electricity surged through his body.

"King Wapol!" Chess and Kuromarimo cried out in concern for their master.

"You can shoot lightning?" Luffy asked excitedly.

Chopper and Kureha were stricken dumb.

"That does it!" Wapol yelled as he got back up. "I'll teach you to attack me. Men, destroy them!"

"Yes, Lord Wapol!" Chess and Kuromarimo yelled as they charged at their opponents.

Chopper's eyes narrowed at them. Then he became his muscular form.

"King Wapol!" Chess exclaimed. "That's…"

"Monster!" Kuromarimo cried. "The same one that followed Hiluluk."

Chopper said nothing to them as he prepared for battle.

Kuromarimo smirked. "Doesn't matter if you're here or not, monster. We'll teach you to disrespect the king. Marimo's Static Cling!" He fired what appeared an afro ball that stuck Brainstorm.

"I say!" Brainstorm cried indignantly as he reeled back from the afro hitting his face. "That is most unpleasant." He pulled the afro from his face. But he found that he couldn't get it off his pincer. "What the deuce?"

Kuromarimo smirked. "You've fallen into my trap."

"I cannot seem to remove this obscene piece of whatever the deuce it is from my person," Brainstorm said as he shook his pincer wildly but no luck. He tried pulling it off with his other claw, but it got stuck to that one instead.

Kuromarimo continued smirking as he pulled two tiny pieces of hair from his head. He gave the puffs a pinch and they turned into another big afro ball. "That's right. I still have more. Marimo's Static Cling!" He fired the two static balls at Brainstorm, which stuck to his face.

"Here now!" Brainstorm yelled as he struggled to get the afros off him. "This has gone on quite long enough. He flailed his pincers wildly but now such luck. He looked over at Luffy and Chopper. "Luffy! Chopper! Would you be so kind as to lend some manner of assistance?"

"Oh, sure," Chopper said.

"Yeah," Luffy said as they ran over to Brainstorm. Chopper pulled off one afro and Luffy pulled off another. Only…

"Hey!" Luffy yelled. "It won't come off!"

"I don't want it!" Chopper said as he tried to shake the afro out of his hand but couldn't. "You take it back." He stuck it back on Brainstorm.

"Yeah!" Luffy said as he gave his back too.

"Well I certainly do not desire this round piece of hair folic."

Brainstorm stuck the hairballs onto Chopper, who stuck them onto Luffy, who stuck them onto Brainstorm. Brainstorm stuck them back onto Luffy, who stuck them back onto Chopper, who stuck them back onto Brainstorm. The large crab then stuck the hair on both Luffy and Chopper at the same time. Panicking, the two tried to put their afros on each other, leaving them looking the same while Brainstorm was afro-free. Unfortunately Brainstorm had chuckled at that moment, exposing himself and causing the rubber boy and the reindeer to put the afros all back onto Brainstorm and being right back where they started.

Kureha sweatdropped when she saw them. "What are they doing?"

Back in the castle, Gwen was worried about what was going on out there. According to Luffy and Ben, this Wapol guy had attacked them back at their ship while she was sick. He had nearly eaten Ben but Luffy had sent him flying. Kureha had explained that the man used to be the king of this place. But he was nothing more than a bully. Although Ben and Luffy assured her that the fight would be easy, she couldn't help but be concerned. She would have done something to help but Kureha had thrown her back into bed and warned her with a scalpel not to get out of bed again without her permission.

"Guys," she thought. "Please be okay."

As she laid in bed, Gwen's mind wondered to Chopper. From what Kureha had told her about the little reindeer boy, it reminded her an awful lot about Kevin. Both had been treated as freaks and monsters without someone to show that they really cared about them. There was one difference though. Kevin had her. Dr. Hiluluk was dead. While it seemed that Dr. Kureha cared about Chopper, she didn't know how she was compared to Hiluluk.

Gwen wondered if…Chopper would like to join their crew.

Back outside

"Your teamwork is pathetic!" Chess said as he loaded a fire tipped arrow to his bow. "Those balls can catch fire easily."

"He's going to burn those afros!" Luffy cried.

"Bait plan!" Chopper yelled as he shoved Brainstorm forward.

"You do not intend to use me as a form of bait do you?" Brainstorm demanded.

"Checkmate!" Chess yelled as he shot a flaming arrow at his opponent. It struck one of the afros and caught fire. Brainstorm yelled as the flames danced on his pincer.

"Ben!" Luffy yelled in concern. He was about to attack Chess but saw that Chopper had already gotten there.

"Get out of here!" Chopper yelled as he leaped forward to strike Chess.

"Get out of the way, Chess!" Wapol called out as he appeared between Chess and Chopper. His mouth had become huge to swallow the reindeer man whole.

"Look out!" Brainstorm yelled.

Wapol had succeeded in chomping onto Chopper. The young reindeer had gone back into his smaller form, with his legs sticking out of Wapol's mouth as the wicked king tried to eat the reindeer up.

"Chopper!" Kureha cried.

"Gum Gum Bazooka!" Luffy roared as he slammed both his hands into Wapol's stomach. The blow sent Wapol knocking into his giant furry hippo. While Wapol stayed, the hippo like creature was blasted into the far off distance. Chopper had flown out of Wapol's mouth and landing in the snow next to Brainstorm and Luffy.

"Very well done, Luffy," Brainstorm said. "Now, could someone be so kind as to assist me?"

"Thank you for helping me," Chopper said as he and Luffy went to try and fix Brainstorm's problem. "You're very strong."

"Yeah, but he's still alive," Luffy said. "And the hippo's gone."

Over with Wapol, Chess and Kuromarimo approached their fallen leader.

"Are you okay, King Wapol?" Kuromarimo asked.

"We're very sorry," Chess said. "We really underestimated them."

Wapol's eyes narrowed as he sat up. He had enough playing around with these people "I will kill all of them! I will show them the true power of the Munch Munch Factory!"

"Oh," Brainstorm moaned when he saw that Wapol was getting back up. "It seems that buffon cannot comprehend the fact that he is outwitted and outmatched."

"He must be really strong," Luffy considered.

Wapol looked at Chess. "Chess, why don't you tell them about my menu this morning?"

"Yes, sir," Chess said as he pulled out a checkered book. "This morning you had one baked cannon, one fresh cannon, and cannon ball salad with gun powder. Also, you ate one restaurant in the village."

"What a weird breakfast," Luffy muttered.

"Hear, hear," Brainstorm agreed.

Wapol sneered at them. "Take a good look at my power after breakfast."

Chopper's eyes narrowed. "What's he going to do?"

"Those things I ate this morning have already been digested and became part of my body. Munch Munch Mutation!"

Brainstorm, Chopper, and Luffy all went wide eyes at the spectacle before them.

"What is that?" Luffy asked.

Wapol's body had changed into a structure that resembled a house. He even had a door, windows, and a chimney. His arms, however, had turned into a pair of cannons.

"Wapol House!" Wapol yelled.

"That's so cool!" Luffy cried out as he gazed in awe at Wapol's new form.

"Luffy, that is becoming rather tiresome," Brainstorm sighed.

Wapol chuckled at the reaction his transformation had brought. "It's too soon for you to be surprised."

That caused the three fighters to look at him cautiously. What was this wacko up to now?

Wapol loomed over Chess and Kuromarimo. "This is the real secret of my power."

Both of Wapol's subjects took nervous steps away from him. But it wasn't far enough. Wapol opened his colossal mouth and chomped on both of his subjects.

"What?" Luffy and Brainstorm cried, shocked at what they were seeing.

Wapol began chewing his crewmen all the way down till just their legs were sticking out of his mouth.

"He's eating them," Chopper cried.

"He's eating his crew!" Luffy yelled in horror.

Brainstorm brought a claw to his large forehead. "I do believe I am going to be rather ill." He mumbled woozily.

Once Wapol had swallowed Chess and Kuromarimo, steam started shooting out of his cannon arms and chimney top. "Be prepared for the ultimate result of combined bodies! Take a good look!"

"What happened?" Luffy asked. "Combined?"

"Bodies?" Brainstorm inquired.

Just then, the door to Wapol's stomach opened up. A figure stepped out. It was Chess and Kuromarimo in some kind of combination with each other. Kuromarimo's head was above Chess' head and their clothes had been mixed together, making them look indeed like a fusion.

"We're the strongest fighter of the Drum Kingdom. Chessmarimo!"

Brainstorm frowned. "Good sir, did you not just merely fuse their clothing together?"

"That's so cool!" Luffy went gaga over the new combination that made Chessmarmo.

Brainstorm sighed. There was no point in correcting the boy. "Hopeless," he muttered. "Absolutely hopeless."

"You'd better not underestimate them," Kureha warned them, causing Brainstorm and Luffy to look at her. "If they were weak, why didn't the villagers do anything to chase them away from this country?"

Wapol let out a laugh. "The first rule of the Drum Kingdom is whoever dares to go up against the king must die! I am everything to this kingdom because this kingdom belongs to me, and so does this castle!" He looked up at the pirate flag. "So I won't allow anyone to put that stupid flag that belongs to that fake doctor at the top of my castle. It makes my castle look worthless!"

He aimed one of his cannon arms and fired. It seemed that nobody could do anything to prevent the cannonball from striking the tower. It blew the flag off. Chopper's eyes went white as he looked at it.

"Pirate flag!" Luffy noted when he saw it.

"How unusual," Brainstorm commented. He looked at Chopper. "Chopper, what…"

That was when Luffy looked at Chopper, and he became furious. But it was Chopper who spoke first. And his anger was directed at Wapol.

"Why did you do that to Doctor Hiluluk's flag?" Chopper demanded as he ran towards Wapol.

"That's stupid. Kill them." Wapol ordered.

"Yes sir," Chessmarimo said.

But Chopper had enough. He ran up at Wapol and transformed into his man-like form. He leaped at Wapol and got right in his face.

"Doctor Hiluluk even thought about saving your life!" Chopper yelled at Wapol. He pulled back his fist, ready to punch the king, but stopped at the last minute. Wapol looked at him in confusion.

I will not hurt you," Chopper said finally. "So, you better get out of this country."

"What are you saying, Chopper?" Kureha demanded. "Do you think that he will understand what you are saying?"

"But…" Chopper tried to argue. Next to him, Wapol smirked. He fired both of his cannons at Chopper. The reindeer man fell to the ground in a heap.

"Chopper!" Kureha cried out in anguish.

"Hey, you! Babbling mouth!" Luffy called.

Everyone looked up. At the top of the tallest tower to the castle, Luffy was standing there, hanging onto the pirate flag that he had retied to the castle. Luffy looked down at Wapol angrily.

"You're just a bunch of frauds!" he yelled. "You became pirates without preparing to risk your lives. You will never understand the real meaning of this flag!"

"What did he just say?" Wapol demanded angrily.

Chopper looked up at Luffy weakly. "You…"

"The true meaning of that flag?" Wapol asked. "What's so important about that stupid flag anyway? It's just a stupid decoration for pirates."

"That's why you're just a worthless piece of crap," Luffy called back.

"What did you just say?" Wapol yelled at Luffy.

"This flag," Luffy shouted. "Is not something you can just play with for fun."

Chopper looked up at Luffy in amazement.

"You fool!" Wapol yelled. "Why do I have, the king of this country, have to play with that stupid flag anyway? And who told you to put it up again? Didn't I tell you that this empire belongs to me? If you still insist on putting that flag there, I will destroy that flag for you!" he aimed his cannon arm and fired.

"Luffy!" Brainstorm cried out in concern.

"Get out of the way!" Chopper cried.

"Who will let you destroy this flag?" Luffy questioned Wapol. "This flag…is a symbol of faith!" The cannon ball that Wapol fired struck the tower, seeming to have blasted Luffy.

Chopper froze at Luffy's words.

"He got it," Kureha said.

"Luffy!" Brainstorm cried out.

Wapol merely laughed. "Just die, you idiot!"

Brainstorm rounded on Wapol and Chessmarimo. "That does it! Consider me, extremely miffed!" He opened his brain and began charging electricity. Then he let out as a bolt of lightning towards the laughing king. That laughter soon changed to cries of pain as the electricity zapped him.

"King Wapol!" Chessmarimo cried as Wapol fell to the ground again.

"See!" a voice called.

Everyone managed to look up and saw that, despite his coat now being in tatters, Luffy and the flag were perfectly intact.

"This flag will never be broken!" Luffy yelled out.

Wapol growled as he started getting back up to his feet.

"I don't know whose pirate flag this is," Luffy continued. "But this flag is a promise of life! It's not just a thing that anyone can play with!" He looked at Wapol with a look of utter rage. "A person like you doesn't have the right to destroy this flag and laugh about it!"

Wapol and Chessmarimo flinched at Luffy's tone.

Chopper stared up at Luffy. _This is a real pirate._ He thought to himself. _He's so great._

"Hey, reindeer!" Luffy yelled down to Chopper. "I'm going to beat them up real soon! So, what are you going to do about it?"

Chopper looked at him confused. "Me?"

"You idiots!" Wapol yelled as he aimed with his cannon hand. "If you really want to protect that stupid flag, I will destroy all of you together with it."

Brainstorm's eyes narrowed. "I'm afraid I will not allow you to carry on this atrocious behavior any longer!" He opened his head and began to charge up electricity.

"King Wapol!" Chessmarimo cried. With his four hands, he shot two large flaming arrows at Brainstorm. "Marimo's snow melting arrow!"

Brainstorm saw the attack coming and realized that he would have to hold off from fighting Wapol. He instead created an electrical field around himself. The arrows were destroyed when they hit the force field.

Chopper saw this as his chance to attack Wapol, so he ran forward and swung his fist. But Chessmarimo saw it coming and blocked it with one of his.

"That's right!" Luffy encouraged from the tower. "Just beat them up, reindeer!"

Kureha smiled as she saw Chopper face down Chessmarimo. "Finally, you've shown your courage."

Chessmarimo chuckled as he stood between Wapol and Chopper. "Sorry," he said to Chopper. "But I won't let you lay a finger on King Wapol."

Chopper shrunk down to his smaller form as he glared at them.

"You're a very strange creature," Chessmarimo said. "You must be the snow monster that the villagers talked about. No one in the kingdom likes you. What a pathetic loser you are."

 _That's not true._ Chopper thought. He remembered the way Gwen hugged him. She said he wasn't a monster. She liked him.

"You don't have a single friend in this place," Chessmarimo continued. "Why do you bother helping this kingdom? It's so funny."

Brainstorm growled. They sure had a lot of nerve to talk about Chopper like that.

"Shut up!" Chopper yelled. "I will continue to fight! As long as Dr. Hiluluk's flag's up there, I will…"

"Who says he doesn't have anyone?" Luffy asked as he stretched his arms out to another tower. "He has me! I am his friend!" Then Luffy launched himself from the tower and crashing into the snow. Wapol and Chessmarimo were launched into the air.

"If that's the case, then I too offer the hand, er…claw, of friendship to young Chopper!" Brainstorm said as he fired electricity from his pincers at Wapol and Chessmarimo. They cried in pain from being electrocuted.

"How dare he continue to shock me!" Wapol yelled in outrage. "I have had enough!"

Chopper looked at Luffy as he picked himself up from the snow. "Are you okay, straw-hat boy?"

Luffy grinned. "I'm fine cause my body is made of rubber."

"Rubber?" Chopper asked in surprise.

"Ben, Chopper," Luffy said. "Can you two take care of that guy for me?" he pointed at Chessmarimo.

"Consider it accomplished Luffy." Brainstorm said as he started walking towards Chessmarimo.

Chopper looked at the fused being and nodded. "Two against two."

Luffy's grin widened. "Then it's a deal." He got up and faced Wapol. "I will take care of this babbling mouth guy."

Wapol faced him. "Stop jumping around. You're giving me a headache."

Chopper and Brainstorm faced Chessmarimo. "I'm not confused anymore." Chopper said determinedly.

"You really think you can defeat us?" Chessmarimo questioned him.

"I would not expect incompetent buffoons like you to understand," Brainstorm said. "But against intellectually superior opponents like us, you will find yourselves clearly at a disadvantage."

Kureha smiled to herself. Things were about to heat up big time.

"My name is Tony Tony Chopper," Chopper said. "The greatest doctor in the world gave me this name." He glared at Chessmarimo. "Even though Dr. Hiluluk forgave you, I cannot forgive you for laughing at his death!"

Chessmarimo chuckled. "It is us who cannot forgive you, monster! We will crush you with our own feet!"

Chopper reached into his pants and pulled out what appeared to be a small orange jawbreaker. "Rumble ball." He said. "A rumble ball will have an effect for three minutes. We will defeat you in three minutes."

Brainstorm smirked. Things were getting interesting.

Chessmarimo snorted. "Three minutes? Don't make me laugh. You could spend your entire lifetime and never defeat me!"

"Three minutes?" Luffy asked. "That's so cool!"

"3 minutes?" Wapol asked. "That sounds great."

Chopper threw the ball into the air. Kureha chuckled. "The fun is about to start."

Chopper caught the ball with his teeth and crunched down on it. Chessmarimo was not intimidated and loaded flaming arrows to two bows again.

"A person like you?" Chessmarimo asked. "What can you do? Marimo's Snow Melting Arrow!"

But Brainstorm would have none of that. He fired bolts of electricity from his brain which destroyed the arrows. Chopper then took the offensive.

"Walking point!" He yelled as he turned into a full reindeer that charged at Chessmarimo, who looked at him curiously.

"Isn't it just a regular transformation?" he asked. "I knew that you've got the power of a devil fruit. You must be a reindeer man just like Dalton."

"Heavy point," Chopper said as he became his more human like form. He charged at Chessmarimo. "You are wrong. I am a human reindeer!"

"It doesn't make a difference anyway!" Chessmarimo replied as he gripped a hammer in each of his four hands. "I know that you can transform into three different forms. Marimo's Super Surprise Quattro Hammer!" He gripped the hammers tightly as Chopper came closer. "I've seen through all of your forms just like Dalton. It's just a normal transformation to increase power."

Chopper then said in a soft voice. "Jumping Point."

"That kind of power cannot defeat me!" Chessmarimo said as he slammed one of the hammers down on the spot Chopper had been. But before the hammer had landed, Chopper had leaped into the air. And it was a very incredible jump. "What's this?" He looked up and saw that Chopper had changed. "What kind of form is that?"

Chopper's Heavy Point had become slimmer and more of his reindeer features had been added. Particularly his legs, which he had used for his impressive jumping. "What kind of form

"Isn't it a half-human, half animal form?" Chessmarimo asked as Chopper started descending. "How interesting."

"Guard point!" Chopper cried.

When Chopper was close enough, Chessmarimo struck with another of his hammers. But what he saw bouncing around on the snow like a ball was not what he was expecting. Chopper was in his small form again. But his fur had expanded and made him look like a literal furball.

"Again?" Chessmarimo cried. "That's impossible."

Chopper just looked at Chessmarimo. "You can't hurt me."

"You should only be able to transform into three forms," Chessmarimo said. "What are you?" Suddenly he cried out in pain as he was once again electrified by Brainstorm. Angrily, Chessmarimo turned around to glare at him.

"You seem to have forgotten the common fact that I was still a participant in this conflict."

"The rumble ball is a medicine that creates waves to disturb frequencies emitted by devil fruits," Chopper explained, causing Chessmarimo and Brainstorm to look at him. "I have spent five years doing the research on this medicine and discovered that it can help me transform into four other different forms."

"You can transform into seven different forms?" Chessmarimo demanded. "So what? How can that power help you anyway?"

Luffy froze when he heard all that and turned around to look at Chopper. "What?" Then his eyes lit up like stars. "Seven different forms? That reindeer is really interesting!"

Kureha raised an eyebrow at Luffy. "What's wrong with him?"

Brainstorm groaned. It was amazing how fast a running gag would become annoying.

"Aren't you going to fight me?" Wapol demanded.

"That stupid trick can't confuse me!" Chessmarimo said as he decided to attack again.

"This is not just a trick," Chopper said. "Arm point!"

Chopper's reindeer body became more like his human form without any of the human qualities. His arms had come very muscular.

Chessmarimo swung one of his hammers at Chopper, but the reindeer struck it with one of his hands, causing the hammer to shatter.

"Let me warn you," Chopper said. "I can destroy a huge rock with just one kick."

Chessmarimo was furious. He pulled out axes to replace the hammers. "Marimo's Super Surprise Marimo Quattro Axe!"

But before they could attack Chopper, bolts of electricity came from Brainstorm that grabbed the axes and yanked them out of Chessmarimo's hands. The being looked at Brainstorm dumbfounded.

"Now, now," Brainstorm lectured. "It is rather dangerous to be engaging with such sharp instruments of destruction. Don't you agree?"

Chessmarimo glared at Brainstorm before looking back at Chopper. He was back to his regular little form. He seemed to have his hands together and scoping out Chessmarimo.

"I'm looking for your weakspot," Chopper said. "This time, I will defeat you. Scope!"

"What?" Luffy asked as he looked at Chopper. "Is he going to release his ultimate power?"

"Who can do that?" Kureha asked. "You're so stupid."

"Stay out of it, auntie!" Luffy yelled back at her.

Chessmarimo smirked at Chopper. "What can you do by just looking?" He charged at him. "I'm invincible! Let's see how you can escape from me now! I will get you this time!"

But Chopper had already figured out Chessmarimo's weakness. His chins. Just as Chessmarimo came at him, Chopper turned into his jumping point and leaped into the air again. Chessmarimo stopped and turned around to face Chopper but couldn't find him anywhere.

"Where did he go?" Chessmarimo wondered as he looked all around for the reindeer.

"Sakura…"

Chessmarimo looked down and saw Chopper shooting out of the snow. His eyes widened.

"Kick!" Chopper cried, striking Chessmarimo in his chins. The blow shot Chessmarimo into the air. An imprint like a sakura on their chins. Chessmarimo collapsed. Chopper turned back to normal. "Three minutes."

Brainstorm turned back to normal. "That was awesome, Chopper! Where can I get some of those? Oh, man do you have any idea what would happen if one of my guys ate a rumble ball. Chopper, you're a genius."

"Don't mess with me!" Chopper yelled at Ben as he started dancing happily. "Saying that stuff doesn't make me happy. Jerk!"

Ben grinned as he looked to see if Luffy had beaten Wapol. But he noticed that something was wrong. Luffy was there. But there was no Wapol.

"Uh…Luffy?" he asked. "Where's Wapol?"

"What?" Luffy looked around and saw that Wapol had in fact flown the coop.

"Great," Ben said. "Now where did that guy go?"

"He used the snow hippo to climb up here," Kureha said. "So there's no way he can get down there. He must be around here somewhere."

Luffy swore. "How come I didn't notice when he left."

Ben deadpanned. "You were too busy staring at Chopper to notice."

Luffy clenched his teeth. "That jerk! I swear that I will find him and beat him up!"

Ben's eyes widened. "Luffy…you don't think…he got into the castle." He paled. "Gwen!" He started running back inside the castle.

Inside, Wapol stared in shock. The inside of his castle was covered in snow and ice. "What's going on here?" He asked. "Is this really my drum castle? Who did this to my castle?" Wapol was furious. "They will be sorry for this. I will kill them all." Just then he hears a door open. He looked up.

Gwen poked her head out of the door. She had been worried sick about the others and she was pretty certain that she had heard explosions from outside. At the risk of Kureha's wrath, Gwen wanted to know what was going on. As she started to leave her room, she noticed Wapol. "Who are you?" she asked.

Wapol sneered up at her. "You must be a friend of that straw-hat boy and the freak kid."

Gwen's eyes narrowed. "You're him, aren't you? You're Wapol?"

Wapol chuckled darkly. "That's right. I am the king of this castle."

Gwen's eyes darkened. "Good." She said. "Cause I have a bone to pick with you."

"Eh?" Wapol asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "What are you talking about? I've never met you before."

"It's not what you did to me," Gwen said as she glared at Wapol. "But what you did to Chopper." Gwen created mana disks and started throwing them at Wapol.

The large king grunted in pain as each mana disk slammed into his body.

"How could you?" Gwen demanded from her spot on the upper level of the castle. "How could you take away the one person who treated Chopper with kindness? Do you have any idea what you did to Chopper?"

Wapol laughed. "Why should I? I am the king! I can do whatever I want! If I want a stupid quack doctor dead, it will be done!"

Gwen tightened her fists. "Not anymore!"

Wapol snarled. What was with this crew and getting in his way? Well, it was time to put this little girl in her place.

"Tempestus!" Gwen cried. The snow in the area rose up and slammed into Wapol, sending him crashing into the wall. He staggered for a moment before looking up at Gwen in shock. "How did you…"

But then a rubber foot slammed into Wapol's back, crashing him into the other wall. Gwen looked ahead to see Luffy and Ben running towards her.

"Ben! Luffy!"

"Gwen!" Both boys yelled. "You're okay!"

Gwen nodded before glaring down at Wapol. "I was just about to teach this guy a lesson for all he's done to Chopper.

Wapol laughed wickedly. "Just stop that nonsense!"

Ben and Luffy glared back at Wapol. "He's strong," Luffy commented.

"He just doesn't take a hint."

Wapol was standing next to two large doors. "Behind me is a weapon room and I have the only key to open it. Inside this room are so many weapons that you can't even imagine. And if I eat those weapons, then they will become part of my body. Be prepared for the ultimate human-weapon! The scariest weapon in the world!"

Ben activated the Omnitrix. "Not if we can help it. Let's see how you handle Humongousaur!" He slammed the dial down. But he turned into Chromastone. "Oh, come on!"

Wapol flinched. "Just how many of those things can you turn into! No matter, I will open the door now!" he reached into his pocket. But he found nothing. "Aaah, where's my key?"

Chromastone smirked. "You were saying about the scariest weapon in the world?" he mocked.

"I still have one last trick up my sleeve!" Wapol yelled as he ran away.

"Stop!" Luffy yelled. He and Chromastone ran after Wapol. Gwen was about to as well when something caught her eye. Lying on the ground was a key. It had to be the key that Wapol was talking about. It must have fallen out of his pocket either between her or Luffy's attacks. She walked over and picked it up. She had to make sure that Wapol didn't get his hands on it again. Pocketing the key, she ran after Chromastone and Luffy.

The chase was on, dashing up through the spiral stairway that led to the top of the castle. Wapol had managed to somehow squeeze his way through the door to the top and continued running. He swore. "There is too much snow covering the roof!" he ran to a nearby door and flung it open. "I will never forgive them! I will teach them a lesson on how to disrespect the king! I will show them my real power!"

Wapol walked over to a something covered in a giant tarp and snow. He threw the tarp off to reveal a large cannon that resembled a hippo with seven holes to fire. "Royal Drum Crown 7 Shot Bliking Cannon!"

"Wapol!"

Wapol turned to see Luffy, Chromastone, and Gwen standing at the doorway.

"We found you," Luffy said as he glared at Wapol. "I'm gonna beat you up this time!"

Wapol laughed at them. "You're the one who that will get beaten up!" he yelled. "Just die!" he adjusted the cannon so that it aimed at the three. The three flinched as Wapol pulled the switch to fire it.

After a minute, nothing had happened. All four were confused. Just then, a white bird flew out of one of the cannon holes.

"A bird?" Wapol asked.

"A snow bird!" Luffy smiled when he saw it.

"How dare you insult me?" Wapol "I am the King of Drum Kingdom! Did you know that I am the king?"

Gwen created a tendril of mana and wrapped it around the former king.

"You are nothing more than a bully who enjoys the suffering of others," she said coldly. "You don't deserve to call yourself a king."

"I don't care if he's a king or not," Luffy said. "I don't care if he's a simple person or not." He grinned at Wapol. "Because I'm a pirate."

Wapol shivered as the three started to advance towards him. "You said that you're a pirate and you don't care if I'm a king? You're so wrong! Drum Kingdom is a member of the World Government! Listen. If you hurt me, you will become the World Government's enemy."

Chromastone and Gwen paused. An enemy of the World Government? Could they afford for something like that to happen? Ben remembered when he had caused an entire planet to hate him when he tried to stop a war. He wasn't in the mood for another one.

"I already told you," Luffy said as he continued walking towards Wapol. "I don't care about that stuff because this is just a fight."

"You fool!" Wapol yelled as he struggled against Gwen's mana restraint. "You better die!" he opened his mouth wide, hoping to chomp the three with one bite. Gwen quickly used her power to push Wapol up against the wall.

"Can't eat us if you can't reach us," Chromastone said smugly.

"That's not all the Munch Munch Fruit's powers can do!" Wapol said. "Tongue Cannon!"

Wapol's tongue turned into a cannon.

"There's a cannon coming out of his mouth!" Luffy cried in shock.

"Die!" Wapol yelled as he fired the cannon. An explosion boomed and blew part of the tower wall off. As the smoke cleared, Wapol could not see his foes anywhere. He laughed. "You underestimated me!"

"Actually, you're the one who underestimated us,"

Wapol turned his head to see Luffy, Gwen, and Chromastone right behind him.

"Wha…?" Luffy latched onto Wapol's back and started winding himself. "Hey! What are you doing to me?"

By the time Luffy was done, he grinned. "Gum Gum…"

"What are you doing?" Wapol demanded.

"Slingshot!" Luffy cried as he unwound himself and shot Wapol upward. Wapol was blasted into the air and even crashed through the tower top. But he didn't get far due to his massive build. (In case you guys were wondering, Wapol did not go into his Slim Up Wapol stage because he didn't have a need to in this version.) Struggling to get out, Wapol saw Dr. Hiluluk's flag flapping in the wind. Then he saw that Luffy was right next to him. He screamed.

Luffy grinned as he bumped his fists together. "A person who isn't prepared to risk his life," he said. "Doesn't have the right to touch other's pirate flags."

Wapol whimpered. Luffy stretched his arms back farther than he ever did before. "Gum Gum…"

"Wait!" Wapol pleaded. "If you let me go, I will give you a position in my kingdom!"

But Luffy would not hear any of that. "Bazooka!" he yelled.

The blast knocked Wapol out of the tower, through the air, into the sky, and far, far away from Drum Island.

Wapol, the king, had been utterly defeated.

As all of this took place, so had a lot been for the others.

Riding on a ski-lift like device to the mountain was Kevin, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Usopp, Vivi, an injured Dalton, and the villagers. They had come up to the mountain to put an end to Wapol's tyranny once and for all. Dalton had even been able to use a bunch of explosives to take Wapol out. Kevin, who had swiped a jacket from one of Wapol's men, got out and started running towards.

"Kevin!" Nami yelled. "Where are you going?"

"Where does it look like I'm going?" Kevin asked. "I'm going to see if Gwen's okay. And if that Wapol guy's done anything to her…" he let his threat hang there.

"Go for it, Kevin!" Usopp cheered. "We're all rooting for you."

Sanji dashed past him. "I can't let anything happen to Gwen-chan." As he and Kevin reached the castle.

"Yaaaaah!" both boys looked up to see Luffy coming down at them.

"Sanji and Kevin?" Luffy asked.

"Luffy!" Both boys cried as he crashed into them, kicking up a huge cloud of snow.

"You idiot!" Kevin yelled as he got out of the snow. "Are you trying to kill us?"

Luffy chuckled. "Sorry. I thought you were one of them because you're wearing their clothes. So you were climbing up here to see us?"

"Luffy!" Sanji yelled as he grabbed the rubber boy by the jacket. "Where's Gwen-chan?"

"She's fine." Luffy reassured him.

"Guys!"

Gwen and Ben were seen running from the castle towards them. Sanji's eyes lit up in delight at seeing Gwen.

"Gwen-chan!" Sanji cried happily. He was about to run towards Gwen when Kevin shoved him into the snow and started running towards her.

"Luffy!"

Luffy turned to see the others coming from the lift towards him. Dalton came behind.

"Luffy!" Nami said. "What happened?" She looked ahead. "Gwen's all better!"

Gwen and Kevin took one look at each other and immediately ran faster. Soon, they crashed into a loving embrace.

"Gwen," Kevin sighed as he held Gwen close to his chest. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel a lot better," Gwen said as she nuzzled closer to him.

"I was afraid," Kevin said in a low voice. "I was afraid that…"

Gwen sighed as she looked up at him. "It's okay."

The two looked up at each other and then went into a gentle but passionate kiss.

"Awww," Nami and Vivi both cooed at the sight.

Usopp blinked and felt his cheeks redden a little at seeing the couple.

Zoro was unaffected by it but he did notice that Sanji was scowling at Kevin as the Osmosian kissed Gwen and smirked. Fuming, Sanji looked over at Luffy.

"What were you doing on top of that castle anyway?" Sanji asked.

"I just chased that stupid king away!" Luffy answered.

Dalton's eyes widened. "So that thing that just flew away was really Wapol? How about the other two?"

Luffy grinned. "Oh, Ben and that reindeer already took care of them. Hey, listen up. We got a new crew member."

"What?" Usopp asked.

Dalton looked at Luffy in confusion. "Reindeer?" he looked over and saw Chopper doing his reverse hiding near a tree. His jaw dropped. Then he took a moment to get a better look at Chopper. He noticed Chopper's blue nose. Then his memory kicked in. That nose…that nose was the same as the one of the monster he prevented from attacking Wapol all those years ago.

Realizing what Chopper had done, Dalton got down on his knees and bowed. "Thank you very much. I am sure that from now on, Drum Kingdom will become a better country."

Chopper stared at Dalton curiously. But then the other villagers noticed Chopper.

"Ah!"

"Look!"

"What is that weird creature?"

"Reindeer? No, it's a monster!"

The villagers started getting their guns prepared to aim them at Chopper.

Gwen immediately got in between them and Chopper, creating a wall of mana. The villagers gasped.

"You hurt him," She warned darkly. "I _will_ make you regret it."

Chopper blinked when he saw Gwen defend him.

"Mon…" Usopp was about to cry out but Kevin grabbed his nose.

"You know," Kevin said. "Your constant screaming is really starting to tick me off, Usopp. So do me a favor…shut it."

Usopp gulped nervously as he nodded. Kevin let go of his nose and walked over to Gwen and Chopper. Chopper felt his body tense up as Kevin looked down at him.

"Who's the little guy?" he asked.

Chopper did a double take at Kevin. Wasn't he going to call him a freak? A monster? Evil? How in the world could a guy look at a blue nose, two legged reindeer and not be surprised?

"His name's Chopper," Gwen said as she looked at the reindeer fondly. "He took care of me while I was sick."

Kevin looked back and forth between Gwen and Chopper. "Him?"

"Well, him and Dr. Kureha," Gwen admitted.

"Is that so?" Kevin asked. He looked at Chopper and started moving closer to him. Chopper felt nervous as Kevin got down on one knee to get a better look at the reindeer.

"You helped Gwen get better?" He asked. Gulping, Chopper nervously nodded. Kevin didn't say anything for a moment. Then… "Thank you."

Chopper let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Gwen's important to me," Kevin said as he started standing up. "Thank you for taking care of her."

Chopper stared at Kevin.

"Everyone!" Kureha yelled, causing everyone to look at her. "Is everyone, okay? Just take all the hurt people inside. And that means, everyone. Okay?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Came the reply. One by one, everyone started moving towards the castle.

"So, Gwen," Nami said. "Are you well enough for us to leave?"

Gwen shook her head. "Dr. Kureha told me that I still needed to wait three days."

Nami bit her lip. That would not do at all. She had read an article a few days back containing important news about Arabasta. She kept it a secret from the others because she knew that Gwen needed a doctor. But she didn't know if they could wait anymore days.

As everyone began filing into the castle, Kevin walked up to Kureha.

"What do you want, kid?" Kureha asked curiously.

"You're Dr. Kureha?" he asked.

"That would be me," Kureha said with a grin. "Why do you ask?"

Kevin looked at her. "Thank you for taking care of Gwen. Thank you a lot."

Kureha's grin turned into a soft smile. She had seen Kevin and Gwen kissing. And being 139 years old, she could tell young love when she saw it.

Once everyone was inside, Kureha went straight to working on Dalton's wounds. Gwen was placed back into bed while being tended to by Kevin, Nami, Vivi, and Sanji.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in bed?" Kureha said as she came into the room. "You're lucky all your friends are here. I'm not in the mood to help too many injured people." She looked over at Dalton. "By the way, Dalton. Do you know where's the key to the weapon room is?"

Dalton, who had been placed on a bed, looked at her. "Why? Do you need it?"

"It's none of your business," Kureha said as she took a drink of a bottle she was carrying.

Dalton sat up. "Wapol always carried the key with him. I think it flew away just like Wapol did."

"Really?" Kureha asked. "That's too bad."

"Hold on!" Gwen said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the key. "Here it is!"

Dalton stared. "How did you get that key?"

"Wapol dropped it," Gwen replied. "I kept it with me so he couldn't get into his weapon room."

Kureha stared. "Is that real key? What's going on here?"

"It's the real one," Gwen said. "Wapol dropped it when we fought him."

Nami quickly took the key from Gwen's hands and dangled it in front of Kureha. "I believe the key to a weapon room is enough to deal with."

"Nami…" Gwen started to protest.

Kureha's eyes narrowed. "You're very brave to use this key to negotiate with me. You're not a good girl like your friend is."

Nami just chuckled to herself as she handed Kureha the key.

"Okay," Kureha said as she put on her jacket and started to walk away. "I'll take this for the medical expenses. However, as a doctor, I can't let her go."

"Wait!" Nami said. "Then just give me back the key."

Kureha snorted. "Listen to me," she said. "I will go do something downstairs and I will leave this door open. And no one will be left in this room." She pointed at Gwen. "So, she can't run away from here." she started walking outside the room. "The rest of you, follow me. I need your help."

"Yes, ma'am," the townspeople said as they followed Dr. Kureha out.

Nami groaned. "I feel that she wants us to take Gwen and get out of here."

"That's what I heard too," Vivi admitted.

"Same here," Kevin said. Then he noticed that Sanji was still fawning over Gwen and growled. "And you will stop making googly eyes at my girl!"

Gwen was not sure if Kevin had realized his slip up, but she loved it when she heard Kevin refer to her as his girl.

Dalton just looked at their group curiously.

"This is so much fun!"

Chopper was flying through the air on top of Big Chill. Ben had decided to show the little reindeer some of the different things he could turn into. Big Chill did a barrel roll, causing Chopper to squeal in delight.

"Are you done yet?" Luffy called up to them. "Come and be a pirate with us!"

Big Chill chuckled as they flew through the air. "Looks like Luffy really wants you to be a pirate." He said.

Chopper lowered his head in concern.

"What's wrong?" Big Chill asked.

"Well, it's just…"

"If you're worried about being called monster then don't worry," Big Chill reassured him. "I turn into a whole bunch of monsters. People would be more scared of me than they would be of you."

Chopper looked up at him. "Really?"

"And trust me," Big Chill said to him. "We're not in the least bit bothered about you. Didn't you see how excited Luffy was when you used the Rumble Ball?"

"True…" Chopper muttered to himself.

Big Chill sighed. "If it makes a difference, Chopper, I would like to have you join the crew too. You're pretty cool."

"Jerk!" Chopper said while giggling. "That doesn't make me happy at all!"

Big Chill chuckled as they gently descended back down. Chopper climbed off Big Chill's back while he turned back to normal.

"Hey guys!"

The others turned to see Vivi, Kevin, Sanji, Nami, and Gwen come out.

"Gwen!" Luffy called. "Tell Chopper to join my crew!"

Gwen sighed. Luffy was way too forward when it came to recruiting someone to his crew. But…Gwen remembered Kureha asking her to heal the wound in Chopper's heart. Would it be easier to heal if he came with them?

"Chopper," Gwen said as she looked down at the little reindeer. "I would really like for you to join our crew."

"Gwen told use everything," Kevin said to Chopper. "If you're worried about being treated like a monster, don't worry. Trust me. I know what's like to be a monster."

Chopper looked up at Gwen and Kevin in awe.

"We don't care if you're a talking reindeer or have a blue nose," Gwen reassured the little one. "I think you are one of the kindest, sweetest people I have ever met."

"And if you wasn't for you and that doctor," Kevin added. But he didn't need to add anymore. He wasn't good with words but Chopper could see that he was grateful for healing Gwen.

"If it wasn't for you," Sanji said. "We'd never see Gwen-chan again."

"We really appreciate what you did," Usopp said, having overcome his original shock at Chopper's appearance.

"Our ship does need a doctor of its own," Nami added.

"And if you came along," Ben said. "We'd have one."

"So what do you say?" Luffy said as he grinned at the reindeer. "Join my crew?"

Chopper looked up at all these people. They didn't care what he looked. They didn't think he was a monster. In fact, Ben could turn into monsters. They all saw Chopper as one of them. And the way Gwen treated him was just like Hiluluk. It was like…

Like he had a family. Tears dripped down Chopper's eyes.

"So," Kevin said to Chopper. "You in, kid?"

"YES!" Chopper yelled happily.

* * *

 _ **AN: The end for now.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**_

* * *

Well, the gang was back on their way to Arabasta. They had a crazy farewell from Dr. Kureha. Particularly when the elder doctor decided to give Chopper a crazy chase while throwing weapons at him. But right now everyone was enjoying a spectacular sight as sakura blossoms were falling down the sky. It was a beautiful thing to see. And now that they were back on the road, er, ocean, the only thing they needed to worry about was going to Alabasta and stopping Crocodile.

But Luffy had an odd way of celebrating the welcome of a new crewmember. He had stuck chopsticks up his nose and lips while running back and forth on the ship. Sanji and Usopp were laughing their heads off. Gwen and Ben were tending to Carue, who had been near frozen solid.

"Thank you, Ben," Vivi said as NRG used his heat to warm Carue up.

Kevin made a face at Luffy's antics. "Is this how he is when he's in a good mood or is he always this stupid?"

Nami giggled. "Don't worry about it, Kevin. You'll get used to it."

Kevin snorted. "Yeah, right." he said sarcastically.

Chopper was sitting on the railing of the ship, staring off into the sky.

"Chopper!" Usopp called to him. "How long are you going to sit there? Come over here and drink with us."

"It's a very beautiful night," Sanji said as Zoro poured him a drink. "I never thought I would see sakura blossoms in this winter island."

Zoro grinned. "That's right. We need to get drunk tonight."

"No, thank you." Gwen said just in case she got offered. "I'm still underage."

"Ah, come on, Gwen," Nami said with smirk. "Nothing wrong with breaking the rules."

"I'm good," Gwen said as she continued tending to Carue.

"You know what I don't get?" Kevin asked. "How did that duck get frozen in the first place?"

"Quack quack," Carue said weakly.

"Maybe he accidentally fell into the water," Zoro chuckled. "What an idiot."

"Shut up!" Vivi snapped at Zoro.

"He said that he saw Zoro jump into the water and disappear," Chopper replied. "He thought Zoro was in danger, so he jumped into the water to try and save him. But he became ice."

"So it's your fault!" Nami yelled as she punched Zoro. The swordsman grunted in pain and clutched his aching head.

Vivi looked at Chopper. "You can understand what Carue's saying?"

Chopper hopped down from the railing. "I used to be an animal, so I can understand their language."

NRG looked at Chopper curiously. "I wonder if he could understand Wildmutt." He asked himself.

Kevin looked at Chopper. "So he's a transforming Dr. Doolittle, huh? That's pretty cool."

"You haven't seen all his transformations," Luffy said excitedly. "They were really cool!"

"Darn you!" Chopper said as he started dancing. "I won't be happy if you say those words, you know!"

"If you're not happy why do you act like that?" Luffy and Usopp asked with sweat drops.

"So, Nami," Gwen said. "Did you buy those medicine?"

Nami nodded. "Yup. Want to make sure our doctor has all the supplies he needs."

Chopper smiled shyly as he looked at the ground. "Thank you," he said. Then his eyes widened. "I forgot to bring my bag with me! All of my medical supplies are in that bag."

"Then, what is this?" Nami asked as she held up a large bag with an X on it. "I saw it."

Chopper looked at it curiously. "My bag. But why?"

Now it was Nami who looked confused. "Why? I thought you were the one who prepared the bag."

Gwen smiled as she walked over to them. "It must have been Dr. Kureha," she said. "She really did want you to be happy."

Nami sat down next to Chopper, who was staring at his bag. "She's really a great person."

Just then, Luffy and Usopp shoved chopsticks into their noses and started dancing. "Chopper!" They called. "Come and dance with us!"

Nami frowned at them. "Would you guys keep it down?" Then she noticed that Chopper had shoved chopsticks into his nose as well. "Why did you copy them?"

And so the three started dancing merrily. Kevin found himself disturbed by the scene so he went to the end of the ship. Gwen had seen him walk off and followed.

"Not in the party mood?" Gwen asked as she stood next to him.

"Party?" Kevin asked looking at her. "You call that a party? It's an idiot convention."

"Kevin," Gwen was surprised.

"Those guys are dancing with chopsticks in their noses and carrying baskets, Gwen," Kevin pointed out. "Normal people don't do that."

"I'll admit it's a little strange," Gwen said. "But come on, they're happy. They got a new crewmember."

"I've got nothing against Chopper," Kevin said. "It was thanks to him and that doctor you got better. I…I owe them both big time for that."

Gwen smiled softly at him.

"You don't know how scared I was, Gwen," Kevin said. "Seeing you lying there like that, not knowing whether or not you'd get better. I thought I…I thought I was going to lose you."

"I understand, Kevin," Gwen said as she scooted closer to him.

Kevin smiled as he put an arm around Gwen. "You know. I've been thinking about what you told me."

"Hmm?" Gwen asked as she looked at him curiously.

"About Chopper," Kevin explained. "From what you told me, the little guy and I have a lot in common."

Gwen's eyes saddened and she looked down at her feet.

"The difference is," Kevin said as he looked down at his own feet. "The poor guy lost the one person who truly cared about him. I still have mine." He looked at Gwen softly. "This is gonna sound completely unlike me but…"

"But what?" Gwen asked, her attention caught.

Kevin scratched the back of his head. "I'd like to talk to him."

The two were rudely interrupted by the sound of someone whistling. They turned to see that it was Usopp whistling while holding a glass of beer.

"What's wrong, Usopp?" Gwen asked.

"Alright!" Usopp yelled. "Listen up, everyone!" He raised his glass. "Here is a toast to our new friend doctor, Chopper!"

"Hey," Ben protested. "I don't remember you toasting us when we joined your crew."

"Let it go, Ben," Gwen said, rolling her eyes at her cousin.

Of course, that wasn't the only interruption. Carue had gone into a drinking frenzy while Vivi desperately tried to stop him. Sanji and Zoro had gotten into an argument and were about to fight. Luffy was yelling at Sanji to give him some meat as well.

"Let's have a toast!" Usopp yelled as if he didn't even notice the ruckus that was going on. "Let's drink for our new friend!"

With that, all the members of the Straw-hat crew raised their glasses and clanged them together with a large "Yahoo!"

Chopper laughed happily with the rest of the crew. To him, this was the first time in his life that he felt happy.

Later that night, Chopper was busy putting things up in what was going to be his official office. Chopper was all smiles as he put things in their proper place.

"Need some help?"

Chopper turned to see Kevin in the doorway.

"Hi, Kevin," Chopper said. "Thank you. Could you put those medicines over there, please? I'll sort them out in a minute."

"Sure thing," Kevin said as he started moving the medical supplies Nami had bought over to where Chopper needed him to be placed. There was a moment of silence and then…

"Gwen told me,"

Chopper paused in his work and looked at him curiously.

"Gwen told me about how your life was before you met that doctor," Kevin clarified. Chopper froze for a moment and then looked down at the ground.

"I know what it's like,"

Chopper's head snapped at Kevin so fast, it was amazing that the little reindeer didn't break his neck.

"I have these powers," Kevin explained. "And because of them, I was always treated as a freak. My own family was forced to kick me out."

Chopper's eyes widened.

"It took me some years but now here I am," Kevin said. "And I owe someone big time."

"Who?" Chopper asked, unable to help himself.

"Gwen," Kevin answered. "She still saw the good in me when no one else did. She…she refused to give up on me no matter what happened. It's thanks to her that I'm helping people instead of doing something worse. When she got sick…I thought I was really going to lose her this time." Kevin looked at her. "So it looks like I owe you and that doctor too. I don't mind though. As long as Gwen's okay."

Chopper stared at Kevin. "Why…why are you telling me all this?"

Kevin smiled softly. "Because I don't want you to go through the same stuff I did. I want to be there to help you. If you want…you could see me as a…big brother."

Chopper's jaw dropped and his eyes got even wider.

"If you need someone to talk too," Kevin continued. "Come talk to me. Or Gwen. We'll be sure to help you."

Chopper began to tremble as he looked down at the ground. Kevin panicked when he saw tears drop down Chopper's eyes.

"Hey…are you…?"

"Oniichan!" Chopper cried as he suddenly flung himself at Kevin. The impact made Kevin stumble but he managed to land on his rump. "Oniichan!" Chopper cried again. "I have an oniichan!"

Normally Kevin would yell and push anyone else who'd do this off. But…he remembered that Chopper had been through enough pain from what Gwen had told him. It was ridiculous. How could parents abandon a kid just because his nose as a different color? And then Gwen told him about how Chopper had a humanoid form that people shot at just because they thought he was a monster. All the while Chopper just wanted to have friends. So, deciding to let this one slide, Kevin patted Chopper's head.

"Don't worry, Chopper," he said kindly. "I'm not gonna let anyone mess with my little bro ever again."

Gwen was listening by the door. And her heart swelled with the way Kevin interacted with Chopper.

The next few days were not very eventful. As usual, Ben was being pestered by Luffy to reveal his alien forms. Chopper was in on too. Although plenty of Ben's forms sent Chopper running around the ship in a panic at times. Then Kevin would come along and yell at Ben for scaring his "little brother".

Kevin had indeed become quite the brother figure to Chopper due to their similar pasts. Much to Gwen and Ben's surprise, Kevin wanted to make sure that Chopper had a clean living instead of the criminal one he had done.

"Chopper's got better things for him than I did," Kevin explained when Gwen and Ben commented on his unusually protective actions. "I don't want what happened to me happen to Chopper."

One day at sea, the gang was doing nothing in particular when Sanji had noticed that all the meat was gone. Naturally he turned to his number one suspect: Luffy.

"Nope, no way," Luffy said as he looked anywhere but at Sanji. "I don't know anything about it. Not at all. Not me."

Ben and Kevin both forced themselves not to laugh at the stupid situation. They knew very well Luffy was the culprit, but they weren't going to rat out their friend.

"Hey," Sanji said to Luffy. "Why do you keep looking away? Look straight into my eyes. Now let me ask you: how is it that the rations for 11 that I had saved up to take to Alabasta suddenly disappeared in the middle of the night?" He grabbed Luffy's face. "Resistance is futile. You'd be a terrible poker player."

"Braaaap," was the noise Luffy made as Sanji squeezed Luffy's mouth.

Sanji noticed something. "Hey, there's something around your mouth."

"Crap!" Luffy cried as he covered his mouth. "Leftovers!"

"It was you!" Sanji yelled, kicked Luffy all the way to the other side of the ship.

Ben and Kevin's jaws dropped. They had never seen someone fly so far from a regular human's kick. Sure, Ben had seen Sanji in action but he didn't think that Sanji could do something like that.

Nami heard the noise and came out to see what was wrong.

"Nami-san!" Sanji cried lovingly at her. "Can you believe that glutton? You gotta buy me a refrigerator with a lock."

Nami looked over and saw that Usopp, Chopper, and Carue were on the side of the ship, fishing. She thought she could hear the subtle sounds of chomping. "Yeah, I'll think about it." She said. "Our lives probably depend on it."

Usopp quickly swallowed the meat he was chewing on. "Okay," he said. "Better catch some fish for Sanji."

"Quack." Carue agreed.

Chopper merely nodded instead of saying anything.

The next thing that happened was Nami literally pounding some sense into Luffy's three accomplices. Ben and Kevin gulped when they saw Chopper, Usopp, and Carue lying in a heap.

"Hey!" Kevin yelled. "What are you beating on my bro for?"

"He's the one who ate the food," Nami pointed out.

"Well, beat, Usopp," Kevin said. "Chopper wouldn't have done it if Usopp left him alone."

"Oh, so I'm the bad guy now!" Usopp yelled in protest.

After all that, Vivi had called everyone out to discuss some information about who the crew would be up against before they reached Alabasta.

"Hero?" Nami asked after Vivi had told them some information about Crocodile. "Crocodile is the hero of Alabasta?

Vivi nodded as she sat against the ship. "Basically the Shichibukai are pirates working for the World Government. Whether the Shichibukai crush pirates for treasure or the marines crush pirates in the name of justice, the people's gratitude does not change. After all, their town's attackers are driven away."

"Sounds a lot like Captain Nemesis," Kevin noted. Ben's eyes darkened.

"Captain Nemesis?" Nami asked.

"Someone who used to be a hero," Ben said coldly. "But he let fame go to his head and started only caring about his career."

"I get it now," Sanji said as he took in Vivi's words. "So the people would never dream, that the hero of Alabasta is actually trying to take control of their country."

Kevin nodded. "Got to give this Crocodile guy his props."

"So look out, Crocodile!" Luffy said as he punched the air. "I just need to beat him, right?"

Vivi sighed with a smile. "Yes…first we'll stop the rebellion. If we can drive the Baroque Works out of Alabasta…my country will be saved."

"Wait hold on a second," Usopp said after he and Chopper regained consciousness. "How the heck does this Baroque Works' system work, anyways? Mr. "This" and Ms. "That"."

"The system is simple," Vivi replied. "At the top is Crocodile…Mr. 0. There are 13 agents who take orders directly from the boss, 12 men and 1 animal. All their names are "Mr." plus a number. They are paired with female agents who compliment their particular powers. Mr. 13 and Miss Friday are special in that they punish the other agents for failure."

Ben made a face. "I don't see how threatening a bird and an otter are."

"All the agents from Mr. 5 up are called Officer Agents," Vivi continued. "Most of them have devil fruit powers. They don't act unless the business is really important. Below them are the Frontier Agents. They command basic units. Their job is to raise funds for the company around the entrance to the Grand Line. That is the secret criminal organization "Baroque Works" in a nutshell."

"I get it now!" Luffy cried as he punched the air. "Look out, Crocodile! I just need to kick his butt, right?"

Sanji groaned. "You didn't understand a word she said, did you?"

Nami sat against the mast, pondering. "Then that means, if the takeover of Alabasta is Baroque Work's final plan, then the officer agents should all…"

Vivi nodded. "Yes. Be together."

* * *

On the fifth day since the adventure in Drum Kingdom, Ben saw that Luffy and Usopp were trying to fish for some food. Only things weren't going so well."

"Luffy!" Usopp yelled at his captain. "I thought I told you not to eat the bait. If we don't have any bait, we can't catch anything!"

Ben grimaced. "Please tell me that you don't use worms for bait."

"But you ate some," Luffy pouted at Usopp.

"I only ate the stuff at the bottom of the lid!" Usopp protested.

Ben turned a little green. "Now I really hope you guys don't use worms." He shook himself. "Here, if you guys need help getting some fish, I'll do it."

"Yeah!" Luffy cried happily. "Turn into something that can bring us lots of fish!"

"Coming right up, Luffy," Ben said as he went to the railing of the ship. He activated the Omnitrix and switched the dial to the needed alien. Slamming the dial down, Ben was engulfed in the typical green light.

Usopp and Luffy could only see it for a moment, but Ben had apparently turned into what had looked like a fish-man with an angular sticking out of his head. The creature had leaped into the air and then dove into the water. Since the creature hadn't called out his name like Ben's forms usually did, they didn't know what to call him.

"What was that?" Vivi asked as she came outside. "Was that splashing noise?"

"Yeah," Luffy said. "Ben turned into a Fishman and dove into the water to get us some food."

Kevin snorted. "Fishman, huh? Sounds like Ripjaws."

"R…Ripjaws?" Usopp asked nervously before gulping.

Just then, Vivi noticed something odd. "Smoke?" She asked as she saw smoke coming up out of the water.

"That's steam," Gwen replied, stepping out of the kitchen. Nami had been giving her some lessons on navigation.

"Just steam," Usopp asked. "From the ocean."

"It's a hotspot," Gwen answered. "We must be above some underwater volcanoes."

"There are volcanoes underwater?" Chopper asked curiously.

"Sure are, Chopper," Nami said from the kitchen. "There are many more volcanoes underwater than there are on land."

"Wow," Usopp said.

Luffy made a face. "Who cares? We can't eat it."

Gwen frowned. "Luffy, do you only think with your stomach?"

"He can think?" Kevin asked in mock surprise.

Nami chuckled before looking at the clouds of steam. "In several thousand or ten thousand years, there will be a new island here."

"That's so cool, Nami-san," Sanji said as he swooned.

"This place is amazing," Vivi said as she gazed at the steam too.

"Ten thousand years," Luffy muttered as he waited for Ben to come back with some delicious fish. "I wonder if I'll be alive by then."

"No, you'd die," Usopp said plainly.

Soon, the ship was engulfed by the steam. And it was not a pleasant experience. The entire place smelled of sulfur and they couldn't see a thing. Kevin had enough and had gone into the kitchen to help Sanji out. Despite the fact that Kevin hated when Sanji flirted with Gwen, he couldn't deny the blonde haired playboy could cook up some awesome grub.

When they finally left the steam, everyone was relieved. But it wasn't lost on Usopp and Luffy that Ben hadn't come back.

"Don't worry," Nami reassured them. "Ben can turn into a whole bunch of monsters. He'll be fine."

But even Nami and Kevin were worried. This world was full of surprises and creatures they had never seen before. And who knew what lurked down there in the deep depths of the ocean.

Just then, they heard a splashing noise. Everyone turned to see Ripjaws on the deck, carrying something.

"Ben!" Luffy cried. "Did you bring me back some food?"

Once everyone got closer, they saw what Ripjaws had caught. It looked like a man in a ballerina like outfit with makeup on his face.

"Ben caught an okama!" Luffy cried out in shock.

The okama, who was gasping for breath, managed to sit up. He looked at the crew. "Thank you very much," he said with a bow. "You are wonderful people. My life has been saved by pirates I don't even know. I will never forget this! Might I have a warm cup of soup?"

"No," snapped the majority of the crew. By now, everyone except Kevin and Sanji were out. "We're hungry too."

The strange man's eyes landed on Vivi. "Ooooh! Well aren't you a cutie? I'd like to gobble you up, right now!" he winked at her.

Vivi shivered. _What a weirdo._ She thought.

"How did you get in the water in the first place?" Gwen asked the man.

"I'm afraid I'm not quite sure," the man admitted. "My crew and I were sailing through the smoke. The next thing I knew, I was in the water. I nearly drowned if it wasn't for this courageous young man." He smiled at Ben, who nervously took a few steps away from him.

Luffy chuckled. "So you can't swim either?" he asked.

"Yes," the man said. "I ate a devil fruit."

"Really?" Usopp asked. "What kind?"

The man scratched his chin. "Well, I must wait for my ship to come back anyways. So I might as well put on a show." He stood up. "This is my power!" He suddenly pulled his hand back and face palmed Luffy. The rubber captain smacked into the ground.

"Luffy!" the others cried in concern. They began to round on the strange man.

"Waaaaaait! Waaaaaait! Waaaaaait! I told you this was my show!"

The sight everyone saw left them speechless. Standing where the okama once stood was now another Luffy wearing the okama's clothes.

"Huh?" the real Luffy asked in confusion. "It's me!"

"They're identical!" Usopp cried.

"Well," Gwen said. "If you don't count the clothes."

"Surprised? Surprised?" asked the okama Luffy as he started laughing. Then he touched his cheek with his left hand and he turned back to normal. "Touch my left hand and it goes back to normal. This is the power of my Copy Copy Fruit!"

"The voice…" Nami said.

"Even the physique was the same," Usopp commented.

Ben fidgeted. Seeing that Copy Copy Fruit reminded him way too much of Albedo for his liking.

"Whoa!" Luffy said as he gazed at the okama. "So cool."

Grinning, the okama went over to the rest of the gang. "Well, it's not necessary to punch you for it to work." He began touching everyone's faces. He became Usopp. "If I just touch your face," He became Zoro. "With my right hand," He turned into Chopper. "I can imitate anyone." He became Ben. "Just like this." Then he became Gwen and Nami. Next, he revealed that he could also imitate one's body and proved this by showing Nami's body to Luffy and Usopp, which resulted in the okama getting pounded by Nami. Recovering, he looked at the group. "I'm so sorry, but that's all I can show you…"

"You're awesome!" Luffy cried.

"Do some more!" Chopper cheered while Usopp whistled.

"Veeeeeery weeeeeeell," the okama said as he did a ballet pose.

"That didn't take much," Gwen muttered.

"I also have a perfect memory," the okama said, causing Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp to get excited. The okama began rotating through various faces that he had apparently touched. "Every face I've ever touched. I never forget a single one."

Then Vivi noticed one of the faces that the okama had turned into. Was it her imagination or did it look familiar?

Zoro scoffed. "Ridiculous." He said.

"How do you like my super special talent?" the okama asked as he started dancing. "I usually never show this to people!"

"So cooooool!" Luffy cried. "You're just like Ben! Only he turns into monsters."

The okama stopped. "Eeeeeh?" he looked at Ben. "You can turn into monsters? Stop joking around!"

"It's true," Usopp said, caught up in the moment. "Ben's got this really cool device called the Omnitrix and it lets him turn into a whole bunch of monsters."

"That's amazing!" the okama said, putting his arm around Ben. "We're like brothers."

"If we are, I hope I was adopted," Ben muttered.

Nami shook her head. Just what they needed, another wacko on board. Then she noticed a ship was coming towards them. "Hey! There's a ship coming this way. Is it yours?"

"Oh me my me!" The okama said as he stood on the railing. "Is it time to leave already? Too bad."

"Awwwwwwww," Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp all whined.

"Do not be sad, my babies," the okama reassured them. "Separation is inevitable. Never forget me." He turned to face them and gave them a thumb's up. "Length of time means nothing to true friendship."

"We'll see you again!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all called out.

"Maybe," Ben muttered. Personally he had been too creeped out by that okama.

The okama leaped onto his ship and did a ballet pose. "Let's go, lovelies!"

"Yes, sir! Mr. 2 Bon Clay-sama, sir!"

Everyone froze as the other ship started sailing away. "Mr. 2!" they all cried.

"That was…Mr. 2 Bon Clay!" Vivi gasped.

"Vivi," Luffy asked. "Didn't you recognize his face?"

Vivi fell on her knees. "No…I've never met Mr. 2 or the Mr. 1 team before. I didn't know that he had any powers either. But I did hear rumors about him. That he was a huge okama, talked like an okama, wore a swan coat that had "Okama Way" written on his back…"

"You should have noticed," Luffy, Ben, Usopp, and Zoro all said.

Vivi brought a trembling hand to her face. "One of those past faces he showed off from memory…was my father's! What in the world…will he use my father's face to do?"

"Well, if you got to be the ruler," Zoro figured. "He could definitely do some bad things with it."

Usopp folded his arms and sighed. "We just let a really dangerous guy get away."

"He was an enemy?" Chopper asked.

"Well," Nami said. "He will be dangerous if he turns into an enemy. Assuming he finds out who we are…if he uses his memory to turn into one of us…we won't be able to trust each other."

"Really?" Luffy asked in confusion.

"What about me?" Ben asked, showing the Omnitrix. "Just because he can copy me doesn't mean he can copy this."

"That's all good for you, Ben," Nami said. "But the rest of us can't turn into a bunch of monsters like you can."

"Wait a minute," Zoro said. "She may have a point, but there's no need to be afraid of him. I think we're lucky that we met him. Now we can use countermeasures."

The gang didn't have much more encounters while on the way there. They had run into a giant seat cat. But Vivi stopped all of them from attacking it, explaining that sea cats were sacred animals. Luffy was upset but Vivi reassured him that soon he could eat as much as he wanted. That gave the rubber boy some comfort.

Finally, the gang had reached Alabasta. But they saw that it was filled with ships that bore the Baroque Works symbol on them. Vivi explained that they were the Billions, servants of Officer agents. Now that they had arrived, the crew began tying bandages on their left arms.

"Remind me again why we're doing this," Kevin said as he allowed Chopper to tie a bandage on his arm.

"We have to so that we don't doubt each other," Nami explained. "With that Mr. 2 guy about, we need to be careful."

"Does he really look like us that much?" Sanji asked as he tied his bandage. "When he does this Copy Copy Fruit thing?"

"He doesn't just look like us," Usopp said. "He is us. Too bad, you really should have seen it. We were even dancing."

"I'm not interested in okamas," Sanji said as he puffed his cigarette.

"Same here," Kevin snorted, after being told what an okama was.

"Now that we know he's among the enemy," Zoro said. "We can't allow for any careless individual actions."

"Hey, what should I do?" Chopper asked.

Kevin grinned. "You want to help kick some butt, Chopper?"

Chopper looked up at Kevin and then scratched his chin in thought. "I guess so." He said.

"Then stick with me," he said. "And I'll show you how to kick some butt."

"I thought you didn't want him to go through what you did," Ben reminded him.

"Doesn't mean I want him to be helpless," Kevin pointed out.

"We're coming up the harbor," Vivi said as they neared the shores of Arabasta. "Let's stop in that inlet to the west. We have to hide the ship."

"Okay!" Luffy said as he held his arm out. "Whatever happens from now on, this left arm…" Everyone else put their arms in. They each had bandages on their left arms. Ben was the exception since he had the Omnitrix. "Is proof of our friendship! Now, let's go to dry land! To a restaurant! Then Alabasta!"

"Shut up, you idiot!" Everyone yelled in annoyance at Luffy.

* * *

 _ **AN: That's all for now!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Enter Fire Fist Ace  
**_

* * *

Ah, Alabasta. A desert country but quite a view. To Ben, Kevin, and Gwen, it looked like something out of the Arabian Nights. But before they could enjoy the view...

"Restaurant!" Luffy yelled once the ship reached land. He leaped off and started running.

"Wait a minute!" the rest of the crew yelled at their captain.

Nami groaned. "That guy is impossible. Ben, could you please go after him and make sure that he doesn't get in trouble."

Ben snorted with a smirk. "Knowing Luffy, trouble would come for him anyway. But I'll go." With that, Ben jumped off the ship and started chasing after his straw-hat wearing pal.

Vivi was worried as she saw Ben and Luffy disappear into the city. "What should we do? Nanohana is a large town. Will Ben-san and Luffy-san be alright?"

"Of course they will, Vivi-chan," Sanji said. "He may look like an idiot but Luffy's pretty strong."

"I just hope Ben will be enough to keep him out of trouble," Usopp said. "If anyone here saw Ben turn into one of his monsters, there's going to be a panic."

Nami sighed. "I wish Luffy would pay more heed to the bounty on his head. Especially in a big country like this."

"Those two can take care of themselves," Zoro said. "Let's go eat. We can think things through after that."

Kevin chuckled as he rubbed his stomach. "I'm with Zoro on this one."

Gwen noticed something in the distance. It looked like some kind of ship. "Hey, Vivi? What's that?"

Vivi looked at the ship Gwen was pointing towards and her eyes widened. "That's Mr. 3's ship!"

"What?" the rest of the crew exclaimed.

"You mean he's not dead?" Usopp asked.

"That ship can only be moved through the power of Mr. 3's Wax Wax Fruit," Vivi said. "He must be in the kingdom."

Kevin snorted. "Well, if he is here, I can give him a whooping for trapping me in that wax."

"We've got a bigger problem than that, Kevin," Gwen said.

The others looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?" Chopper asked curiously.

"A while back, when we fought Mr. 3, Sanji pretended to be him and told Crocodile that we were all dead," Gwen replied. "Now that the real one's here..."

Vivi's eyes widened. "Crocodile will find out we're still alive."

Kevin looked at the ground. "Crrrrrrap," he muttered.

"Luffy!" Ben yelled as he struggled to chase after his friend, who was running almost as fast as XLR8. "Get back here!"

The rubber boy was sniffing the air for food. "What's that weird smell getting in the way?" he asked himself. Then he saw a restaurant up ahead. "There! That's a restaurant!"

Ben felt like his legs were going to burst. This would have been so much easier if he had turned into Jet Ray. But he wasn't in the mood for all the civilians to be freaking out if he transformed. So he just ran after Luffy the best he could. But he still wished he could use XLR8's speed. But as he got closer, he saw that Luffy had stretched his arms to the restaurant.

"Gum Gum…"

"Luffy! Don't!"

"Rocket!" Luffy blasted himself inside the restaurant. What he failed to notice was that he had crashed into somebody who was in his way. And that person happened to crash into another person. And both of them went crashing through the wall of the restaurant. But the only thing on Luffy's mind was food.

"Woohoo!" Luffy cried cheerfully when he saw that he was inside the restaurant. "A restaurant! I'm starving!" He went over to the counter, grabbed some silverware, and started pounding them on the counter. "Hey, guy! Food! Food! Food!"

"Luffy!" Luffy turned to see heavily panting Ben standing at the restaurant doorway.

"You. Are. Impossible!" Ben said between gasps of air.

"Hey, Ben!" Luffy said cheerfully as he started chomping down on some food left on the counter top, not bothered that some of it had already been eaten into. "Were you hungry too?"

"I was sent after you!" Ben yelled.

"Well come on and eat," Luffy said. "This is a great restaurant."

Ben grimaced. "Uh, Luffy? Did you bring any money with you?" Luffy was stuffing his face. Ben sighed. "He didn't listen to a word I said."

"Straw-hat!"

Ben and Luffy saw someone standing next to a giant hole in the wall that Luffy had made. He was a muscular white haired man, who was smoking two cigars at once and wearing a large thick white and blue jacket which he kept open with greenish fur lining neck, wrists and hem. Many cigars were strapped to the jacket. ,The man also wears brown leather gloves, blue jeans with a brown belt and large military issue brown leather boots. Luffy took one look at him, then resumed eating.

"So you're here, too," the man said with a smirk.

"Who are you?" Ben asked as he looked at the white haired man. Was he a member of Baroque Works?

The white haired man looked at Ben now. "Who are you?" he asked.

Ben frowned. "Didn't I just ask you that?"

Luffy froze when as he ate. He remembered that guy now. That was Smoker, a powerful Marine that he had encountered before he entered the Grand Line. This guy had eaten the Smoke Smoke Fruit, which granted him the power to turn into smoke and not be touched.

"Bo bah bobee by!" Luffy garbled with his full mouth, spraying Smoker with food. "Ba buh boo boo-beh beeah?" (Translation: You're that smoky guy! What the heck are you doing here?)

"What did you just say?" Ben asked Luffy in confusion.

Smoker glared at Luffy from the globs of food that he had just gotten on his face. "You disgusting little…"

"Beeeh bo ba boooh!" Luffy said to the bartender before stuffing the rest of his food into his mouth and running out. (Translation: Thank you for the food)

Ben slouched. "Not again." He chased after Luffy. "Wait for me!"

"Wait!" Smoker yelled after them.

"Luffy!" Ben asked as they ran. "Who was that guy?"

"Beh bas bober," Luffy said. "Be ban bun binbo bobe…"

"On second thought," Ben said. "Don't talk with your mouth full."

Meanwhile, Smoker was in hot pursuit. "Tashigi!" he yelled.

Up ahead, a woman wearing glasses and carrying a sword at her side paused in her shopping stopped and looked at the upcoming Smoker. "Yes, Captain Smoker?" She asked. "What is it? You want a towel? I know this place is so hot…"

"Stop him!" Smoker yelled as Luffy and Ben got closer. "It's Straw-hat and some kind of accomplice!"

"Straw-hat!" Tashigi yelled when she saw Luffy. She grabbed her sword. "Okay…I'll stop him!" She swung at him but Luffy used his acrobat like skills to dodge her. And flipping all the way up on top of one of the buildings.

"What the…?" the villagers all cried out in shock. Tashigi was so stunned that Ben was able to slip past her.

"Excuse me," he said as he went past her.

Smoker swore. Then his lower body turned into smoke. Ben turned around at that moment and saw it. His eyes widened. "Smoke?"

"Tashigi!" Smoker yelled as he flew after Luffy. "Assemble the men! Comb all of corners of the town and find his crew!"

"Yes, sir!" Tashigi said as Smoker flew towards Luffy.

"White Snake!" Smoker yelled as his arm turned into a long tendril of smoke that shot towards the running Luffy.

"Oh no, you don't!" Ben said as he activated the Omnitrix. He slammed the dial down.

Smoker became aware of a flash of green light coming from the streets below. Just as he was about to turn his head, a stream of flames hit his White Snake attack and negated it. Luffy and Smoker both looked down in the street to see Heatblast smirking at Smoker.

"Demon!" the citizens cried when they saw Heatblast and started running around screaming.

"What in the…?" Smoker stared.

"Ben!" Luffy cried happily at seeing his pal.

"You know what they say," Heatblast said to Smoker. "Where there's smoke, there's fire!"

* * *

Back with the others. Once they had docked, they knew it would be best to acquire some more suitable clothing. Baroque Works agents were here and they currently stuck out like sore thumbs. Sanji had returned from buying some regular clothing for the gang to disguise themselves with. Only…

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't pound your face right now," Kevin said, grabbing Sanji by his collar and getting right up in his face. Kevin and the rest of the boys were dressed up in robes that gave them a bandit like appearance.

"Oh, come on, Kevin," Nami said. She, on the other hand, was wearing a dancer's outfit. "I really like it."

"But…" Vivi said. "These make us look more like dancers than normal citizens."

"That's okay!" Sanji said, looking at them lustfully. "Dancers are citizens too!"

"You jerk!" Kevin said, his urge to break Sanji's nose rising. "You even got one for Gwen. I am seriously gonna…"

"Kevin, it's okay."

Kevin turned around. And his eyes widened when he saw Gwen step out wearing an outfit just like Vivi and Nami. He gulped as he felt his face redden. Sure, he had seen Gwen in a bikini plenty of times but… He tried opening his mouth but no sound would come out.

"See," Sanji said to Kevin. "Don't you think this was a good idea now?"

Kevin snarled. Sure…he would admit…Gwen did look extremely hot right now…but that didn't give Sanji the right to ogle his girl. Then he noticed Chopper lying on the ground and his anger momentarily left him. "What's wrong, Chopper?"

Chopper covered his nose with his hoofs. "My nose is going to fall off."

Kevin raised an eyebrow at him. "Say what?"

"Your nose must be sensitive, Chopper," Vivi noted. "Nanohana is famous for its perfume."

"Perfume?" Chopper asked weakly as he sat up.

"There are extremely powerful ingredients in it," Vivi explained.

"Like this?" Nami asked as she pulled small perfume bottle and sprayed her neck.

"Aaaah!" Chopper cried in agony as he clutched his nose harder. "Stop it! Stop it!"

"Hey!" Kevin snapped, stomping over and snatching the perfume bottle. "What's the big idea? Chopper already said it was bothering him!"

"Oi!" Sanji yelled. "Don't yell at Nami-san!"

"She's the one who sprayed the perfume!" Kevin pointed out.

"He's got a point," Zoro said as he took a drink from a bottle of alcohol.

"You stay out of this!" Sanji yelled at him, annoyed that Zoro and Kevin were ganging up on him.

Gwen sighed. "Guys, please stop fighting, okay?"

"Yes, Gwen-chan!" Sanji said, doing some kind of ridiculous noodle dance.

"And Kevin," Gwen said as Kevin looked like he was about to lose it. "Please calm down."

"But Gwen…" Kevin tried to protest.

Gwen shrugged. "You know what they say. When in Rome, do as the Romans."

Kevin shook his head. How in the world was Gwen taking this so calmly. And was he mad because Sanji had gotten Gwen that outfit or because Sanji was gazing at her while she was in that outfit? Shaking his head, Kevin tried to think of anything to clear his mind.

Nami grinned at her friend. "That's the spirit, Gwen." She looked at Vivi. "Well, I've collected up the materials to make a journey through the Alabstan desert. Where are we going, Vivi?"

"Well," Vivi said. "First and foremost, I want to stop the rebellion! We don't know when they might rise up and cause needless bloodshed. And the base of the rebellion, where the leader lives…is an oasis town called Yuba. To go to Yuba we…"

"Hide!" Zoro said suddenly as he grabbed everyone and hid them behind some ruined structures.

"What's wrong?" Gwen asked Zoro.

Zoro peaked around the corner and saw marines swarming the place. "Marines? Why are they here?"

"Don't let him get away!" one of the marine officers yelled.

"Sheesh," Zoro muttered. "What a ruckus. Did they find a pirate or something?"

At that moment, Luffy ran past them with a whole bunch of marines on his tail.

"Figures," Kevin muttered at the scene.

But it was at this moment that Luffy noticed Zoro watching him. "Zoro!"

Zoro cringed.

"There's the Straw Hat crew!" one marine yelled.

Luffy started running towards his crew.

"Come back once you've lost them, you idiot!" Zoro yelled in annoyance at his captain.

"Luffy!" Gwen called, since there was no point in hiding. "Where's Ben?"

"He's fighting that smokey guy!" Luffy replied.

"Huh?" Gwen asked.

As if to answer her question, Heatblast was seen soaring through the air before crashing into the ground nearby.

"Ben!" Nami cried, running to her friend. "Are you alright?"

"Easy peasy, lemon squeezy," Heatblast muttered in a daze as he rubbed his head.

"Oh no!" Chopper screamed. "He's delusional! Someone call a doctor!"

"You are a doctor!" Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp shouted at him in annoyance.

"Heads up!" Kevin called to the others as the marines started closing in on them. He grabbed the stone wall and his entire body was encased in rock.

"That guy just turned to stone!" one marine yelled.

"He must have eaten a devil fruit!" another cried.

"Nope," Kevin said as he turned his hands into weapons. "Although I will admit that I am a rather handsome devil."

Gwen rolled her eyes. She was about to help him out when...

"Stand back, men!" Smoker ordered as he flew towards Luffy and his crew.

"That the smokey guy you mentioned?" Kevin asked Luffy.

"That's him," Luffy said. "He almost got me but Ben saved me."

"Yeah," Kevin said. "And it looks like Ben's the one who got knocked for a loop."

Heatblast shook his head and leaped to his feet. "I'm just getting started," he said as he started running at Smoker.

Smoker narrowed his eyes at Heatblast. "I don't know what you are, but it seems you're part of the Straw-hat crew. And none of you are getting away. "White Blow!" He fired his fist while turning his arm into smoke. Heatblast was about to shoot a blast of fire at him when…

"Heat Haze!"

A wave of fire collided with Smoker's smoke.

"Nice one, Ben!" Usopp cheered on Heatblast.

Heatblast was confused. "Uh…that wasn't me."

"Hey there," a voice said. "Need a hand?"

Heatblast turned to see some guy standing next to him. He looked a little like Luffy, but more muscular and had a more serious look on his face despite the guy's grin. Freckles lined the guy's face. He wore black boots, black knee-length shorts with an eyelet-studded orange belt, and a blue pouch belted around his left leg. He also wore a short second belt with a large red "A" on the silver buckle over his right hip, but left it unfastened and threaded the free end along the back of his shorts. A dagger in a green hilt hung at his left hip. On the guy's left arm, he wore a Log Pose and a red and white striped bracelet around his wrist, an orange elbow guard, and an "ASCE" tattoo with the S being crossed out. He wore a red beaded necklace and an orange hat with two blue smileys one frowning and one smiling, and a string of red beads sitting above the rim. Two long orange side straps hung down sides of his hat and met at a large medallion of a bull's skull with orange tassels. Flames were coming from his body.

"Who are you?" Heatblast asked, wondering why this guy had decided to help him.

Luffy on the other hand was staring at this new guy. His eyes widened. "Ace!" he called.

The man called Ace turned his head to grin at Luffy. "You haven't changed a bit…Luffy."

"You two know each other?" Heatblast asked, looking back and forth at the two.

"He's my big brother!" Luffy replied.

"What?" The Straw-hat crew except for Kevin and Gwen yelled.

Ace grinned at them before looking at Heatblast. "Well now you know who I am. Who are you?"

"He's Ben!" Luffy said to his brother. "He's really cool, Ace! He's got this device that lets him turn into a bunch of monsters!"

"You idiot!" Nami yelled, punching Luffy. "You just yelled that in front of the marines!"

Smoker's eyes narrowed as he looked at Heatblast. A device that let him turn into a bunch of monsters? How was that possible? He looked at the green dial on Heatblast's chest. Did that have something to do with it?

"I hope you'll excuse me for interrupting your fight," Ace said to Heatblast with a bow. "But I couldn't just stand by and let someone mess with my brother and his friends."

Heatblast grinned. "No problem. In fact, if you want to help out…"

"You sure it's alright?" Ace asked with his own grin.

"The more the merrier," Heatblast said. But he was rather confused. This guy was supposedly Luffy's brother but he didn't act anything like Luffy. He turned at the others. "Get out of here, guys. Ace and I can handle this."

"Let's go!" Luffy yelled as they all started running.

"After them!" Smoker yelled to his men.

The Marines were about to chase after the Straw-hat crew when Heatblast shot a wave of fire at their feet.

"I don't think so," Heatblast said, folding his arms and smirking.

Smoker snarled in annoyance. "Who are you?" he asked.

Heatblast's smirk grew. "Who am I?" he created a fireball in his hand. "You can call me…Heatblast!" He threw the fireball.

While the regular marines scattered, Smoker simply fired a cloud of smoke at the fireball. The two forces collided and negated each other. Something wasn't right here. But Smoker would have to deal with Ace and this "Heatblast" or whatever he was. He prepared to attack when a wall of fire erupted from the ground. A flaming net.

Heatblast looked over at the one who created the wall of fire. It was none other than Ace. He looked at Heatblast with a grin.

"That oughta hold them," he said. "Let's get out of here." With that, Ace ran off in the direction the others went.

"Uh, right," Heatblast agreed as he followed Ace. As they ran, Heatblast decided to strike up conversation. "So uh…I take it you ate a devil fruit?"

Ace chuckled. "Yeah. I ate the Flame Flame Fruit. But what about you? Luffy said you can turn into a bunch of monsters."

Heatblast chuckled nervously. "Yeah about that…"

"That thing on your chest, huh?" Ace said. "That's Luffy for you. He gets excited too easily. I'm sorry about him. He probably gives your crew lots of trouble. And if you really can turn into a bunch of monsters, he must give you the most trouble. Take care of him for me will you?"

Heatblast was absolutely and utterly dumbfounded. This guy…this guy was nothing like Luffy. Were they really brothers?

Heatblast was then aware that he had followed Ace back to the ocean. Once he was sure that there were no marines in sight, Ben touched the dial and turned back to normal.

"Looks like we lost them," Ben said. "Now I just need to find the others."

"No problem," Ace said with a grin. "I'll give you a hand."

Back on the Merry Go, the gang were making preparations. Vivi had entrusted Carue with a letter containing vital information about Baroque Works and sent him off to deliver it to her father. So Carue had gone off to warn the king while the others simply waited for Ben to return. Luffy was reassuring them that Ben would be okay if he was with Ace.

"So, Luffy," Kevin said. "That Ace guy's your brother, huh?"

Luffy nodded while sitting on the ship's railing. "Yep. He's a pirate looking for the One Piece."

"What's he like?" Gwen asked, curiously.

Kevin snorted. If this Ace guy was anything like Luffy, they were in for twice the headache.

"Ace is really strong," Luffy said. "He hadn't eaten a devil fruit before. Even then, I could never beat him in a fight."

Kevin's attention was caught. "Wait, hold up. Are you saying that you, even with your gum gum powers, couldn't beat this guy who didn't have a devil fruit power?"

"That's right," Luffy said with a wide grin.

"The monster's brother is an even bigger monster," Usopp said in awe.

"Yeah, I always got my butt kicked," Luffy said while laughing. "But I could beat him now."

Zoro deadpanned. "That's a groundless statement."

"Just who can you beat?" a voice behind Luffy asked, startling him and making him fall off the railing. Luffy looked up to see his brother smirking at him.

"Ace!" Luffy said happily.

"Yo," Ace said coolly.

"Hey, guys," Ben said as he hung on the railing of the ship.

"Ben!" Gwen let out a sigh of relief.

Ace looked at the crew. "Hey, everyone. I already told Ben this but I want to thank you for taking care of my brother." He bowed. The others politely bowed back. Kevin just stood there until Gwen nudged him in the side. Rolling his eyes, Kevin bowed too. Ace chuckled as he watched.

"So why are you here, Ace?" Luffy asked his brother.

"Huh?" Ace asked. "Didn't you get my message in Drum?"

"You left a message for Luffy in Drum Kingdom?" Gwen asked.

Ace shrugged. "Never mind. No biggie." He looked at Luffy. "Anyways, I'm glad I saw you. I'm here for a silly little task. I figured I'd try to meet up with you. Luffy…will you join the "Whitebeard Pirates"? With your friends too of course."

"Who's Whitebeard?" Ben asked as he climbed onto the ship.

Ace's jaw dropped comically as he gaped at Ben. "You're kidding, right?" He asked. "You…you've never heard of Whitebeard?"

Ben chuckled nervously.

"We're not from around here," Gwen said. "We haven't heard of a lot of pirates before."

Ace chuckled. "Well that was a shock. I never thought I'd meet people who didn't know Whitebeard. Whitebeard is my captain and the greatest pirate I've ever known. I plan on making him the king of the pirates. And I was wondering if you guys wanted to join us."

"No way," Luffy said instantly. Instead of looking angry or disappointed, Ace just laughed.

"Just thought I'd ask," Ace said as if he had expected Luffy to turn his offer down.

"So, Ben," Nami said. "Were you followed?"

"No need to worry about that," Ace said. "I used my Flame Flame power to throw them off. Sorry if I ruined your fun, Ben."

"No problem, Ace," Ben, afraid that he might have been rude. "I mean, I never thought about doing that fire trick as Heatblast before."

Ace nodded. Then he looked at the Omnitrix peeking out from Ben's sleeve. "That the thing that turns you into monsters?"

Ben chuckled now as he looked at the Omnitrix. "Yeah."

Ace nodded then looked back at his brother. "Looks like you got a pretty interesting crew, Luffy." He reached into his pocket, then threw a piece of paper at Luffy. "Here. I wanted to give this to you. Always keep it with you."

"Huh?" Luffy asked as he caught it. "It's a piece of paper."

"Yep, that paper will let us meet again." Ace explained.

"Wow," Luffy said, looking at the paper curiously.

"Don't want it?" Ace asked.

"No, I do!" Luffy said quickly.

Ace smiled as he tilted his hat. "Having a dumb brother little brother…makes an older brother worry." He looked at the crew. "He probably gives you all a lot a trouble. I already asked Ben this but…take care of him for me." He leaped off the railing.

Luffy immediately ran over and saw a yellow raft tied to his ship. It was shaped like a half-crescent, with an engine in the back, and two paddle-wheels on the side, all linked to the main seat in the middle of the craft. There was also a single small sail at the back.

"What?" Luffy asked his brother in a whinny voice. "You're leaving already?"

"Yeah," Ace said as he untied the rope.

"You can chill out here a little longer," Luffy offered. "I haven't seen you in so long."

"I told you," Ace said. "I only came to do that. I'm chasing a major criminal right now. He's been calling himself Blackbeard lately. But he used to be a member of Whitebeard's Second Division. My subordinate."

Kevin's eyes narrowed. Blackbeard? That was the name Dalton said belonged to the pirates that had attacked Drum Island.

"He committed the worst possible crime on a pirate ship," Ace explained. "He killed a crewmate. I'm the commander, so I have to finish him off. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be back here in this part of the sea." He looked up at his brother and smiled. "The next time we meet…will be at the Pirate Summit."

Luffy smiled back at his brother.

"No…no way," Nami said in amazement. "How could someone sensible be Luffy's brother?"

"That's what I was thinking," Ben said.

"If they hadn't told me, I never would have believed it," Kevin said. "How come we don't have him for a captain?"

"Kevin," Gwen snapped at him.

"I was sure he'd be as irresponsible as Luffy," Usopp remarked.

"Ace is just like Kevin," Chopper said. "Big brothers sure are wonderful."

Kevin smiled sheepishly but was very touched at Chopper's remark.

"What a great guy," said a shockingly moved Zoro. "Cares about his brother…"

"I don't get it," Sanji said, amazed at the big difference between the two brothers. "The sea's a mysterious place."

"Please, everyone…" Vivi said in a vain attempt to stop everyone from being so blunt.

Meanwhile, Ace activated his flames powers as his legs turned into flames and started powering up his boat. In no time at all, Ace's boat was zooming away from the Merry Go.

"See you later!" Luffy called after his brother.

But Ace didn't get far as he saw something that was going to be an obstacle for both him and his brother's crew. Ships were closing in fast on him. They weren't marine ships so what were they? Well, unknown to Ace, these guys were agents of Baroque Works. When they learned that Ace was in town, they saw this as their chance to move up in the ranks.

"Let's go!" someone yelled from one of the ships. "We got him outnumbered fifty to one! Five ships! Get past us if you can, hammer boy!"

Ace smirked. This was child's play for him. Turning his lower body into pure flames, Ace leaped into the air. His ship on the other hand, dove underwater.

"Waaah! He jumped! Shoot him!"

"We'll win if he falls into the water!"

But all the agents could do was watch in stupefied amazement as Ace managed to soar over all five ships. His ship come up from the water directly beneath him. And Ace landed back on perfectly. He turned around so that he was facing the ships again. All the crews were shock at the display they had just seen. Ace pulled his fist back.

"Fire Fist!"

What Ace unleashed with that punch was a roaring inferno. It struck the first ship, then blasted into the second, third, fourth, and fifth. All five ships exploded with that one attack faster than even Heatblast was capable of. As the fiery remains of the five ships all sunk to the ocean, Ace's hand turned back to normal except for his index finger, which he used to tilt his hat and grin in the direction Luffy and his pals were heading.

"Come on, Luffy," Ace said with a grin. "Come on to the top."

Back on Luffy's ship, the others continued on in the direction Vivi told them to go. But they were still going over their encounter with Ace.

"What was that paper Ace gave you?" Ben asked Luffy.

"I don't know," Luffy replied. "It's just a scrap piece of paper."

Kevin took it out of Luffy's hands and examined it. "Yep, a regular piece of paper."

"That's weird," Gwen said. "I wonder why he gave it to you then, Luffy."

"I dunno," Luffy said as he took the paper from Kevin and gave it and his hat to Nami. "But Ace told me to hold onto it. So I'm gonna hold onto it. So sew it in there tight."

"Behind the ribbon…gotcha," Nami said as she sewed the paper to Luffy's hat. "Here you go."

"Thanks, Nami," Luffy said as he shoved his hat back onto his head. Now I don't have to worry about it. I'll never lose it."

"How do you know that?" Usopp asked him.

Vivi came out with a bunch of cloaks and robes. She handed some to Ben and Luffy. "Wear these Luffy-san, Ben-san."

"Why?" Luffy asked. "It's hot."

"You wear it because it's hot," Vivi said. "The desert temperature can get very high. You'll get sun burnt if your skin is exposed."

Luffy looked at her, Nami, and Gwen. "Why are your clothes so skimpy then?"

Ben's face darkened. "That's what I'd like to know." He glared at Sanji. "Why do I have a feeling you have something to do with it?" He clutched the Omnitrix. "I am really tempted to go Rath right now."

"Go ahead," Kevin said with a sadistric grin. "But I get first hit."

"Would you guys knock it off," Gwen said. "It's not that big a deal. It's just like wearing a bikini. Besides, we're gonna be wearing coats too."

"What?" Sanji cried, his visible eye bugging out of its socket. "You're going to wear those?"

Kevin smirked at him. "Too bad, so sad."

"Yeah," Ben said before glaring at Sanji. "But if you start doing stuff like that to my cousin again I'm gonna…"

"Will you just chill, Ben?" Gwen said. "I can take of myself if Sanji tries to pull anything on me."

"Gwen-chan…" Sanji whined in a heartbroken like manner.

Kevin felt his face flame at the way Gwen was looking at him. And he was strongly fighting the urge to see if Gwen might keep that dancer outfit when they went back home. He couldn't help but think about how hot she looked in it.

Ben was still fuming and didn't stop until Gwen put her coat on. And only then did he lighten up by about a fraction. He was really trying so hard not to pound Sanji right now. Then he and Luffy began to put on their coats.

"Hey!" Chopper cried as he looked over the railing. "We just rounded the side of the island!"

"No," Vivi said. "This isn't the side of the island. This is the bank of the river Sandora. You can see the other side in the distance, right?"

"Oh, you're right," Chopper noticed.

Vivi pulled out a map of Arabasta. "Look," she said, pointing to a location on the map. "This is a rough map of the area. And this is our destination. It's called Yuba. We'll cross the Sandora and head out for it."

"And Yuba is where the leader of the Rebellion is?" Zoro asked.

"So I just have to kick his butt, right?" Luffy asked as he punched the air.

"Would you stop that?" Vivi asked panicking. Seemed to her that Luffy was only interested in kicking people's butts. "I want to persuade the rebellion army not to shed any more blood."

"Can you?" Kevin asked. "No offense but I don't know if they'll listen to the princess if they're rebelling."

"I have to try, Kevin," Vivi said as she looked at the ground. "We'll discover everything along the way to Yuba…exactly what Baroque Works has done to this country, exactly what this country's people have gone through. We can stop this senseless violence! I won't let Baroque Works do what they want to my country!"

"Vivi," Nami said softly.

"Don't worry, Vivi," Gwen told her. "We're here to help."

"Got that right," Kevin said with a grin.

"Looks like it's hero time," Ben said.

"I'll make a special desert crossing lunch for you, Vivi-chan," Sanji offered.

"Whoa, this sounds exciting," Chopper said.

Zoro grinned. "Sounds like fun to me."

"Okay, Vivi," Luffy said. "I understand. Let's go! Upa!"

"She said Yuba, you idiot," Kevin corrected.

"Yuba!" Luffy yelled.

Kevin groaned. "Remind me again why this guy's the captain? I miss Ace already. Is it too late for me to join the Whitebeard Pirates?"

"Kevin!"

* * *

 ** _AN: That's all for now!_**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Adventures in the Desert**_

* * *

"We made it!" Luffy yelled in joy. "Yuba! Wait a minute. There's nothing here!"

And boy was Luffy right. The crew had managed to get to find their next stop. But when they docked, the place looked like a half buried ghost town.

"Man," Kevin said as he looked at town. "No wonder I had a sudden urge to have a vacuum cleaner."

"Let's look for the leader," Luffy said. "Where is he?"

"No, Luffy-san," Vivi said. "This isn't Yuba yet. We still have to walk north through the desert for half a day."

"Half a day?" Usopp whined.

"Quite complaining," Kevin said as he got off the ship. "That's nothing compared to what we've been through."

"Look at the map," Vivi said as she pulled it out for the others to see. "We crossed the Sandora River and we just landed here at Erumalu, the "Green Town"."

Kevin snorted as he looked at the town. "I think whoever named it must have been color-blind."

Vivi shook her head. "It didn't always used to look like this, Kevin-san."

Just then, a strange creater that looked like a cross between a seal and a turtle popped out of the water near the ship.

"Kuo!" the creature cried.

"What is that, a turtle?" Usopp freaked out. "A seal?"

Vivi paled. "A kung-fu dugong!"

"Kung-fu?" Ben asked confused. Then he noticed Usopp taking a fighting pose against the dugong. "Uh, Usopp? I don't think you should…"

But it was too late. As quick as a flash, the dugong had beaten Usopp. The long nosed sharp shooter was lying on the ground supporting large, swollen cheeks. Kevin, Ben, and Gwen were struck speechless.

"You lost?" Zoro asked Usopp in disappointment.

"They're strong," Vivi explained.

"We've got a winner over here," Nami told her, pointing to where Luffy had beaten another dugong.

"Don't beat them!" Vivi cried in a panic.

"Why?" Ben asked. "Won't that mean they'll leave us alone?"

Vivi shook her head. "It's Kung-Fu dugong law that the loser of a fight become's the winner's student."

"So they're martial artists," Zoro noted.

The dugong that Luffy had beaten picked itself up and bowed respectively to Luffy.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "I feel bad for anyone who becomes Luffy's student."

Suddenly Luffy was surrounded by a whole bunch of dugongs who struck fighting stances.

"No, no," Luffy said as he did a different one. "The stance goes like this."

"How did you get so many?!" Vivi cried.

Kevin cringed as he rubbed his ears. "You know? You keep shouting like that and I'm gonna go deaf soon."

The dugongs waved good-bye to the Straw-hat crew while holding bundles of food in their mouths and flippers.

"Now let's go to Yuba," Luffy said as the crew marched on towards the desert.

"You almost wasted all of our food," Sanji snapped at Luffy.

"If Chopper hadn't talked them out of it, we'd be in major trouble." Nami added.

"Yeah," Chopper said. "They kept saying "We'll go with you". I had to give them our food to keep them away."

"Well," Kevin said. "Now we know to avoid anymore kung-fu dugongs."

"Why don't we take them along?" Luffy asked.

Nami grit her teeth at Luffy. "We can't get into any towns with that many trailing along, you idiot."

"The dugongs in this country are pretty weird, Vivi-chan," Sanji said. "They live in the river?"

"No, the ocean," Vivi corrected. Sanji gave her a confused look so she went on. "Ever since ancient times, the Sandora River has sustained this country. But lately, the river lost the force it once had. And now it's being pushed back by the sea, down-stream."

Sanji's eye widened. "Then the water those dugongs live in is…"

Vivi nodded. "Salt water. Can't use it on fields or drink it."

"Is that why this village is dried up?" Zoro asked.

"No, they collected water on the rare occasions when it rained," Vivi replied. "And the town survived off of that most of the time. Up until recently, this town was a lively place, full of green plants."

"Now it's Gruesome Gulch," Kevin said as he kicked some sand.

"Kevin!" Gwen scolded him.

"Sadly, Kevin is right to call it that," Vivi said. "For the past three years, not a single drop of rain has fallen into the entire country."

Chopper looked at Vivi. "Is that port town going to be okay?"

"Nanohana gets its water supply from the oasis at Katorea, so they're safe." Vivi told him. "Even in Alabasta, no rainfall has ever been something to worry about for thousands of years. But there was always one place that got more than anywhere else. The capital Alubarna. The city built around the King's palace. People called it the "King's Miracle". At least, they did until that day when the people found a loads of Dance Powder was that claimed to be for the king."

"Dance Powder?" Kevin said, looking skeptical. "Do I even want to know what Dance Powder does?"

"Don't be fooled by its name, Kevin," Nami said. "I've heard of Dance Powder before. It's also known as "Powder that Calls Rain"."

"Wait, hold on," Gwen said. "Are you saying that there's a powder that can actually make rain?"

"Pretty much," Nami replied. "It was created by some country with no rain, long ago. The powder emits a mist like smoke that rises up into the air. It speeds up the creation of ice particles in sub-freezing temperature clouds and causes rainfall."

Kevin let out a whistle. "Man, do you have any idea how much that would be worth? A guy could make a fortune off that stuff."

Ben rolled his eyes. "Here we go again," he muttered.

"So it's a mystery powder," Luffy said.

"Hold on a second," Ben said. "Wouldn't that Dance Powder be perfect for a place like this?"

"I agree with Ben," Usopp said. "I mean, if it can make rain, that would fix everything, right?"

"Not exactly," Nami told them. "The people who created it called it Dance Powder because it made them dance with joy…but there was a large pitfall to all this."

Kevin sighed. "Typical."

"It caused droughts to downwind countries," Nami explained.

"How does it do that?" Gwen asked.

"The artificial rain that Dance Powder makes is the process of nurturing clouds that aren't ready to rain yet," Nami said. "It sucks the water out of the clouds…"

"I see," Usopp said. "It steals rain from clouds that would mature over neighboring countries."

"That's rough," Kevin remarked.

"Yes and it started a huge war," Nami continued. "The loss of life was profound. Since then, the World Government has outlawed the manufacturing and possession of Dance Powder worldwide. A powder that brings happiness and misery at the same time."

"Still think it can make a fortune now?" Ben asked Kevin.

"Hey," Kevin protested. "I didn't know it did that."

"That large shipment of Dance Powder appeared in Nanohana," Vivi said. "Soon afterward, an abnormal weather pattern started, and no rain fell anywhere except where the king was…"

"It's normal to distrust the king," Zoro said. "They must have thought he was using the powder to steal all the rain."

"Vivi!" Luffy cried, pointing a finger at Vivi. "Your dad is evil!"

Sanji responded to that by axe kicking Luffy in the head. "He was framed, you idiot! Vivi-chan's father would never do such a thing!"

"Now I realize that Crocodile's terrible plan was already in effect," Vivi said as she got on her knees, looking at a skull in the ground. "My father was suddenly surrounded by a scandal he had nothing to do with. Somehow a large volume of Dance Powder had been brought into the palace under his nose."

"It had to have been Baroque Works," Ben said dryly.

"Yes," Vivi said as she picked up the skull and placed it against her forehead. "It was all a trap set up by Crocodile! A rebellion arouse…just as he planned! Towns dried up, people starved , and an army of furious rebels started a bloody battle with an innocent country! The kingdom's peace…the trust in the royal family…the rain! The towns…and even people's lives…were all stolen. And it was done by one man…Crocodile! What gives him the right to do this?" She put down the skull and began to fight back tears that threatened to shed. "I will never…let him get away with this!"

Suddenly one of the buildings in the distance collapsed. From the smoke that arouse came Sanji, Luffy, and Usopp.

"Hey," Nami said. "What were you doing?"

"Let's move forward already," Luffy said. "I'm anxious now."

"You're not the only one," Ben said. "I met lots of guys. But none of them ever did something like what Crocodile's doing."

"Not even Vilgax, Aggregor, or even Diagon would go as far as pit a whole country against itself," Gwen said as she looked at the ground.

"Doesn't mean they wouldn't mind trying it," Kevin pointed out.

Ben nodded. "But we always stopped them before they went that far." He looked at Vivi. "Don't worry, Vivi. We're bringing Crocodile down."

And so, the Straw Hat crew left the ghost town and continued their journey through the desert. But the sun was beating down and the heat was incredible.

"Aaaah," Luffy whined as he walked through the desert. Somewhere along the way, Luffy had found a stick and was now using it like a walking stick. "Aaaah."

"Would you stop going "Aaaaah, aaaah" already?" Nami asked Luffy in annoyance. "You're just wasting energy."

"Aaaaaah," Luffy said again. "I'm burning up. Can't even sweat."

Meanwhile, Zoro was dragging Chopper on a makeshift sled. "I can't stand the heat…but I'm fine in the cold."

Kevin looked at Chopper in concern then looked at Ben. "Hey, Tennyson. Turn into Big Chill and cool him off, huh? He's got to be burning up."

"I think that's a great idea," Nami said. She gave a pouty look at Ben. "Ben, turn into Big Chill and cool us off, please?"

Sanji was having mixed emotions about this. Right now, seeing Nami's pout put him on Cloud Nine. But he was jealous of the fact that Nami was giving that look to Ben instead of him.

Ben rolled his eyes with good humor. But he knew that this heat was not good and he didn't want poor Chopper to get heatstroke.

"Coming up." He activated the Ultimatrix and turned the dial to Big Chill. In a flash of light, he transformed into the Necrofriggian. Taking a deep breath, he unleashed an icy mist upon his friends. He only put enough power to make sure that everyone was cooled down, but not frozen.

"Aaaah," Luffy said in relief as he felt the cold wind hit his body. "Muuuuch better."

"This is more like it," Chopper said as he relaxed. "Thank you, Kevin."

Kevin grinned at Chopper. "Hey, anything for my little bro."

Gwen smiled to herself. It was so wonderful to see Kevin acting like a big brother to Chopper. Most likely because of their bad experiences, the two had bonded rather well. And seeing Kevin like this really made her day.

Big Chill grumbled. He was the one cooling everyone off after all.

"This is real nice," Nami sighed. "Thank you, Ben."

Now that was more like it.

Sanji, while grateful for the coolness, was upset because Ben was breathing on the girls. If Big Chill's ice breath wasn't so appreciated, he'd have kicked the crappy moth-man all the way across the desert by now.

Big Chill stopped his ice breath for a moment. "You know I can't keep doing this. How much farther, Vivi?"

Vivi looked at Ben. She smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, Ben-san. We're not even a quarter of the way to Yuba."

"Just great," Big Chill whined.

"Can't you turn into some kind of monster that could get us there faster?" Usopp asked as they all walked through the desert.

"I'm a super-hero," Big Chill complained as he floated alongside everyone. "Not a vehicle. I can't carry all of you at once."

"What about that dinosaur you turned into?" Luffy asked.

"You talking about Humungousaur?" Kevin asked.

"Well, there's that," Big Chill admitted.

"Come to think of it," Gwen said. "Humungousaur might not be a bad idea."

"Humungousaur?" Sanji asked.

"He's huge!" Luffy cried. "He's even bigger than those giants we met! And he can grow even bigger! Humungousaur's my favorite!"

"Bigger than Dorry and Broggy?" Usopp asked in wonder. "He's really that big?"

"It's true," Vivi said. "I saw it myself."

Zoro looked at the ground. "If he's as big as you say he is, then wouldn't we get there faster if he carried us?"

"Okay, when did I become a mode of transportation?" Big Chill asked.

"You're the one with the Omnitrix, Tennyson," Kevin reminded him.

"Come on, Ben," Nami said. "You want to stop this war as much as we do, right?"

"Well yeah but…" Big Chill started to argue.

"No buts," Nami interrupted. "We need to get to Yuba as fast as we can. And it looks like the fastest way for all of us is Humungousaur."

Big Chill sighed. "Fine." He touched the dial to the Omnitrix again. In a flash of green light, Ben became Humungousaur who quickly grew to his full size.

"He's gigantic!" Usopp cried.

"He really is huge," Sanji said, his cigarette falling out of his open mouth.

"C…colossal," Nami gasped.

Zoro grinned. He wondered what it would be like to fight against an opponent like that.

"Alright! Humungousaur!" Luffy punched the air with glee at seeing his favorite monster.

Bending down, Humungousaur put one of his giant hands on the ground, indicating that the others needed to get on.

"All board the Humungousaur Express," Kevin said as he jumped onto Humungousaur's hand.

Humungousaur made a face. "Hilarious."

"Don't worry, Ben-san," Vivi said as everyone else got onto Humungousaur's hand. "We'll get there faster now. And then you can rest."

Grumbling to himself, Humungousaur stood back up and started walking further into the desert. As much as he hated to admit it at the moment, perhaps it was the best idea for him to turn into Humungousaur. With his size, he could get there faster than they would have if they had traveled normally. Right now, he was carrying the others in one hand, while being forced to use his other one like a shade for them.

"I hope I don't get sunburned from all this," Humungousaur muttered dryly.

"Do monsters get sunburn?" Luffy asked as he relaxed in the shade of Humungousaur's hand.

"I don't know," Gwen admitted. "Ben's never been sunburned as an alien before."

"Hold on a second," Luffy said as he sat up. "Are you saying…"

"Those things Ben can turn into…" Usopp started to say.

"Are aliens?" everyone cried.

Gwen smiled sheepishly, realizing that she had just given them away. "Yes."

"Aliens!" Chopper and Usopp cried out in a panic.

"But…but how?" Nami asked. "Aliens are said to be creatures from other planets. Are you saying that beings from other worlds exist?"

Kevin and Gwen looked at each other. Then they looked at the Straw Hat crew.

"Yes," Gwen said. "Aliens do exist. In fact, Ben's Omnitrix was made by an alien. Azmuth, part of an alien race called the Galvan."

"You've met aliens?" Luffy asked excitedly.

"Yep," Kevin said, seeing as they were found out anyway. "Loads of them.

"Who…who are you guys, really?" Nami asked.

"And how did Ben get the Omnitrix?" Zoro asked.

"That's kind of a long story," Gwen said.

"Well we might be here a while," Zoro said. "So tell us."

Gwen took a deep breath. "Well…"

"Uh, guys," Humungousaur interrupted. "I think I see something up ahead. I don't know what it is but it's coming straight at us."

The others looked ahead. Sure enough, there was some kind of dust cloud in the distance. And it was getting closer by the second.

"Usopp," Gwen said. "What is that thing?"

Usopp pulled down his goggles and looked through them. He suddenly wigged out. "G…giant lizard!"

"Giant lizard?" Vivi asked. "It must be a Sandora Lizard."

"How big is it?" Luffy asked.

"It's pretty big," Usopp said. "But not as big as Humungousaur. Go on and crush it!"

Humungousaur frowned. "What am I? Your butler?"

"Big lizard?" Luffy asked. Suddenly he leaped out of Humungousaur's hands. "Meat!"

"Luffy!" the crew yelled. "You idiot."

"Ben," Sanji said as he got up. "Take care of Nami-san, Vivi-chan, and Gwen-chan."

Zoro got up as well as he unsheathed his swords. "We'll go and help that idiot."

Before anyone could say anything, Zoro and Sanji leaped out of Humungousaur's hand and landed on the ground. They immediately joined Luffy as the lizard came at them.

"Gum Gum…" Luffy pulled back his fist.

"Tatsui…" Zoro raised his swords.

"Epaule…" Sanji crouched down.

"Whip!"

"Maki!"

"Shoot!"

Luffy stretched his leg, striking the side of the lizard's head. Zoro unleashed a tornado of wind by swinging his swords, striking underneath the lizard. Sanji had leaped into the air, unleashing a powerful kick to the lizard's face. The combined blow killed the lizard.

Humungousaur, Kevin, Gwen, Vivi, Chopper, and Usopp all watched in awe at the scene before them.

"They…they didn't have to go that far," Usopp whimpered.

"The three of them are stronger than a monster," Nami said.

Kevin, originally shocked at what he had just seen, snickered as he looked up at an equally stunned Humungousaur. "Looks like you might have some competition, Ben. I bet if those guys went up against Vilgax, they would take him down in no time flat."

Humungousaur, staring at the now lifeless body of the Sandora Lizard, was thinking that Kevin just might be onto something there.

"Nami-san! Gwen-chan! Vivi-chan!" Sanji called down. "I'm making lunch for you."

"But we already have food!" Gwen called back. "Besides, are you sure that's edible?"

"I'm sure it is, Gwen-chan!" Sanji called back. "Don't worry, I'd never give bad food to you, Nami-san, or Vivi-chan!"

"Don't worry, Gwen," Nami said. "Besides, we could use the extra meat since we had to give some of our food to those dugongs."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Kevin said. "Hey, Tennyson. Bring us down before Luffy eats the whole thing."

"Good," Humungousaur said. "My arms were getting tired anyway."

The gang had decided to go ahead and cook the lizard and eat what they could. A little teamwork from Sanji and Heatblast turned the lizard from predator to a pretty decent meal.

"Wow," Gwen said as she took a bite. "It's actually pretty good."

"See, Gwen-chan," Sanji said, gushing at her. "I would never give you bad food."

"I'm about to give you something bad," Kevin threatened. But at the moment it felt like an empty threat. After seeing Sanji's impressive strength against that lizard, Kevin started to see that he would have trouble if he actually got into a fight with the cook. Especially out here in the desert. After regaining his human form in the Null Void, he had been taught how to absorb solid matter. He had never tried absorbing something like sand before. And personally, he was afraid that if he did absorb sand, he wouldn't be able to put himself back together. Then again, Ben had once been burst into atoms while as Goop but he put himself back together. (In the episode called Deep.)

While cooking the food, the alien trio were still question about the Omnitrix. Knowing very well that they couldn't tell the crew everything, they decided that telling a set of half truths might be their best bet. They told the story about how Ben found the prototype Omnitrix when he was ten years old, but they didn't mention the fact that they were from another universe entirely. So, the Straw-hat crew thought this all happened on their Earth. The Alien Force would tell about some of their adventures, talking about alien spaceships and the different foes they went up against. They talked about Vilgax, the Negative 10, the Highbreed, Aggregor, and Diagon but still left out important facts that would have hinted that they were from a different Earth. The Straw-hats were on the edge of their seats.

"Wow," Nami said once the story was done. "That's…that's incredible."

"You guys battle aliens?" Usopp asked. "How come we've never heard about this?"

"Well," Gwen said as she scratched the back of her head. "We've done such a good job of keeping it a secret."

"How come?" Luffy asked.

"Because," Kevin said. "Humans would freak if they learned aliens really excited."

"Do aliens eat meat?" Luffy asked.

"What kind of a stupid question is that?" Nami asked him, punching his head.

Kevin chuckled. "Some do. Those are the ones that you gotta watch out for. Some of them consider humans to be a rare delicacy."

"So," Zoro said. "If all those monsters Ben can turn into are aliens, just how many aliens can he turn into?"

"A lot," Gwen said vaguely. She didn't know what would happen if the crew knew just how many aliens Ben could turn into.

"Nami-san! Vivi-chan! Gwen-chan!" Sanji said. "Food's ready!"

After the food was done cooking, Heatblast turned back to normal. Ben was looking at a rather unexpected surprised during the trio's battle with the lizard. A camel. Turned out from Chopper, that the lizard had been chasing the camel. The camel had been trying to get away, causing the lizard to chase it in the direction of the Straw-hat crew.

"It's got a saddle, so it has to belong to somebody," Ben figured.

Kevin on the other hand had noticed the camel had very long eyelashes. "Think its rider got eaten?" He asked as he took a big chunk out of his lizard meat.

Usopp gulped at the thought.

"Well, anyway," Ben said. "Now you guys have something else to ride on instead of me."

"Yeah, for two people maybe," Zoro said. "What about the rest of us?"

Ben sighed. "I've been reduced to being a chauffeur."

Luffy started climbing up the camel. "I'll go on fir…" But at that moment, the camel chomped onto Luffy's head. "Oww!" He pulled his head out of the camel's mouth. "What?"

"Vwooo," the camel said. "Vwoo."

Kevin looked at Chopper. "What'd he say, Chopper?"

"I am just a passing camel," Chopper translated. "Thanks for rescuing me. I'll let you ride me but…"

"Vwoo," the camel said again.

"I'm afraid I don't accept male passengers," Chopper said. "That's what he says."

Kevin snorted. "What a rip-off."

Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp began pounding the camel. "You stupid punk! Who do you think saved your worthless life?"

Gwen created tendrils of mana and yanked the three boys away from the camel. Nami went over and gently stroked the camel's chin.

"I'm sorry," she said. "My bandits are so mean to you."

The camel had hearts in his eyes.

"What a good boy," Nami cooed. "What should I call you?"

Luffy raised his hand. "Idiot."

Sanji raised his hand. "Moron."

Usopp raised his hand. "Stupid."

Ben raised his hand. "Sexist."

Kevin looked at Ben. "Never thought I'd hear a guy say that."

Nami hopped onto the camel. "Okay, how about Eyelash?" The camel nodded happily.

Zoro sweat dropped. "That's worse than the other names."

"I don't know," Kevin said with a shrug. "Seems to suit him."

Nami made the camel get on his knees. "Hop on, Gwen, Vivi. There's plenty of room for all three of us."

"Pervert camel," The boys muttered.

Vivi, not wanting to be a burden to Ben, hopped onto Eyelash. Gwen followed.

"See, Ben?" Nami said. "Now you just have the guys to worry about."

"Nami-san," Sanji whined. "Viv-chan, Gwen-chan. Don't leave me here with these guys."

"Well, at lease you can't bother Gwen," Kevin said, seeing that as the only positive thing about meeting that camel.

"Let's go, Eyelash!" Nami said. With that, Eyelash dashed off, leaving all the guys in the dust.

"You better turn into Humungousaur, Ben!" Nami called back as they ran. "Or you guys are never gonna make it out of this desert!"

Kevin looked at Zoro. "She does this often?"

"Pretty much," Zoro said.

"I still love you, Nami-san!" Sanji shouted to the girls.

Kevin whispered to Zoro. "I say we bury him."

"It's a tsunami!" Luffy cried suddenly. He started flapping his arms wildly. His eyes looked like swirls.

"Huh?" Kevin asked in confusion.

"Tsunami? What are you talking about?" Ben asked.

"What now?" Zoro demanded in annoyance.

Luffy was still flapping his arms.

"He looks like he's swimming," Ben said, looking at Luffy.

"More like drowning," Kevin corrected. "What's wrong with him?"

"Do you think it could have been that thing?" Usopp wondered aloud.

"What thing?" Sanji asked.

"When we stopped for the lizard meat," Usopp explained. "He also ate a cactus over there."

"I'm drowning!" Luffy cried.

"A cactus?" Chopper asked. "Like this one?" He pointed to a small, round cactus nearby.

"Yeah," Usopp said. "One of those round ones."

"Oh no!" Chopper cried. "That's a Mescal Cactus! It causes hallucinations!"

"What?"

"Get ready, everyone!" Luffy cried. "I'm gonna kick your butts! Gum Gum…"

Chopper pulled a syringe out of his backpack. "Tranquilizer!" he cried as he injected the syringe into Luffy's body. Luffy collapsed and began snoring.

"Right!" Sanji said as he gave him a thumb's up. "Good job, Chopper!"

"I'll say," Kevin said, patting Chopper on his hat.

"Look how far that stupid camel is!" Usopp said, pointing in the distance where Eyelash was now just a mere dot.

"Hurry up," Zoro said. "We gotta follow it!"

And so the gang continued onward. Ben had tried turning back into Humungousaur but wound up becoming Four Arms instead. While not good for carrying the others, he did use his strength to carry the gang's supplies, allowing them to move a little faster through the desert.

While this was a little better, it was still a rough trip through the desert. The sun was beating down on the boys and they ran into more interesting creatures of the desert like a giant frog. Later, when Luffy woke up, the boys gave him the pounding of his life for making them lag behind due to him eating the cactus. Luckily, they managed to catch up with Eyelash and the girls just as the sun was setting. Usopp had even collapsed and had been forced to be carried by Zoro. As night time came upon the desert sand….

"It's night time…." Nami said.

"The temperature's the exact opposite from the daytime." Sanji noted.

"The desert goes below freezing at night," Vivi explained.

"Achooo! Freezing?" Kevin grumbled, hoping that he wasn't catching a cold.

"Don't worry," Nami reassured him. "We've got Ben. He could turn into NRG or Heatblast to keep us warm."

Ben rolled his eyes. He felt like he was becoming the crew's servant now.

"Nami-san! I'll keep you ladies warm at night!" Sanji said. He had enough of Ben getting to be so close to the girls when it should be him.

"Touch Gwen and your dead," Kevin threatened him.

"Got that right," Ben agreed.

"There!" Vivi said as she pointed in the distance. "Can you see the light?"

"Did we make it to Yuba?" Sanji asked.

"I can't tell," Luffy said. "There's too much sand blowing around!"

Sure enough, there was a town in the distance. But something was wrong.

"Why is the earth rumbling?" Gwen asked.

"Something's wrong with the town!" Vivi cried. What appeared to be a tornado of sand had engulfed the buildings. "A sandstorm! Yuba's being attacked by a sand storm!"

"Ben!" Usopp cried. "Stop that thing!"

"How do I stop a sandstorm?" Ben asked.

"Ben!" Nami said. "Use Terraspin's wind powers! Create another sandstorm blowing in the opposite direction! The two should cancel each other out!"

Ben nodded. "Got it!" But just as he was about to activate the Omnitrix, the sandstorm stopped. Once the sand settled, everyone got a good look at the town.

"Impossible," Vivi whispered as she took in the scene before her.

Zoro looked at the town, which was almost completely buried in sand. "This place isn't any different than Erumalu."

"Where's the water?" Luffy said.

"Your fault for drinking most of it," Kevin retorted.

"The sand has raised the ground level," Vivi said. "The oasis is being swallowed up."

"Travelers, eh? You must be tired from your trip through the desert. I'm afraid this town's a little dried up."

The gang turned to see an elderly man digging in the sand. He stopped digging and smiled at them. "But you can still rest here. We have plenty of inns. That's what we're known for."

Vivi fidgeted nervously and did the best she could so that her face couldn't be easily seen. "Excuse me," she said. "We heard the Rebellion was based here."

Suddenly the man's face turned vicious. "What do you want with the Rebellion?" He questioned. Then he began throwing stuff at the crew. "Don't tell me you want to join those filthy rebels!"

"Whoa! Hey!" Kevin said as he dodged barrels and rocks. "You looking for trouble, gramps?"

The man snorted before digging again. "Those fools are not here anymore."

"Whaaaat?" the crew cried. "No way!"

The man still kept on digging. "That storm you just saw wasn't the first to attack the town. The drought has been drying us up for the past 3 years. The sandstorms have come more and more frequently. The sand has been steadily eating away at the oasis. And now, it is as you see it today. Without circulation of goods, the Rebellion cannot continue their war of endurance. They have moved their base of operations to Katorea."

Vivi's eyes widened in recognition.

"Where's that, Vivi?" Luffy asked. "Is it close?"

"It's the oasis next to Nanohana," Vivi replied.

"Nanohana?" the others cried.

"We missed it," Ben said, looking at the great.

Kevin groaned. "So we came out here for nothing. Just great."

The man froze in his digging and looked back at the crew. "Vivi? Did you just say…Vivi?"

"Hey, mister!" Luffy said. "Vivi's not a princess, okay!"

Kevin punched him in the back of the head. "Don't open your mouth unless it's to eat from now on, okay?"

The man slowly walked towards Vivi. "Vivi-chan?" he asked. "Are you really?" Suddenly he ran over and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're alive! It's me! Don't you remember? I guess not. I've lost some weight."

Vivi's eyes widened. "Mr. Toto?"

The man's eyes started to water as he smiled at her. "That's right…"

Vivi brought a hand to her mouth.

"Mr. Toto?" Luffy asked.

Kevin snorted. "I think we're not in Kansas anymore." He whispered to Ben and Gwen. Ben chuckled but Gwen frowned at him.

"Listen to me, Vivi," Toto said as he put his hands on her shoulders. "I believe in the king! He would never betray our country! Isn't that right?" He got down on his knees. "This Rebellion is absurd! I beg of you! Stop those fools! You're the only one who can do it!"

Vivi began trembling.

"It's only been 3 years," Toto continued. "Who cares if it hasn't rained? I believe the king! The majority of the people still do. We've stopped them over…and over…and over again! But you can't tell them anything…the Rebellion will not be stopped! Their power will soon overtake ours. They plan to end this with the next attack! They've caught up to us! They're prepared to die!"

Vivi's face turned stark white.

"Please, Vivi," Toto begged. "Stop those fools before it's too late!"

Vivi pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Toto. "Mr. Toto," she said.

He looked up at her. "Vivi…"

Vivi smiled at him. "We'll stop the rebellion."

Toto smiled weakly. "Yes…thank you."

Later that night, Toto had allowed the group to stay at one of the many inns in the town. Usopp had finally come to.

"Good work today, boys!" he said cheerfully. "Let's take a rest to replenish our strength for tomorrow. Goodnight!" he hopped onto one of the beds and started snoozing.

Annoyed, Zoro threw a pillow at Usopp. "You were sleeping the entire time!"

"Of course I was, you jerk! I was exhausted!" Usopp threw a pillow at Zoro."I'm not a monster or an alien like you guys!"

"That's it!" Zoro said as he grabbed another one. But this time, Usopp threw a pillow at Chopper.

"And you're the king of the exhausted, blue nose!" He yelled.

Wham! A pillow collided with Usopp's face.

"Throw something at him again and see what happens," Kevin threatened as he had another pillow in his hands.

"Sanji," Vivi said, noticing that Sanji was sleeping on one of the beds. "That's mine…"

"Yeah," Sanji said. "I figured you didn't want to sleep alone tonight…"

"What do you think you're doing?" Kevin and Usopp both threw pillows at Sanji.

"Hey, which one of you crap-jerks just threw those at me!" Sanji yelled.

"I did, Curly!" Kevin replied.

"Yeah, it was all Kevin's fault!" Usopp said.

"No it wasn't!" Chopper argued. "You threw one too!"

"I'm getting both of you!"

"Bring it on, Smokey!"

Vivi, who had been accidentally plopped in the face with a pillow, just smiled at all the commotion her friends were having.

Back outside, Luffy and Ben were hanging out with Toto. Ben had wanted to be inside sleeping, but Nami pointed out that due to Ben's aliens, he had the best chance of keeping an eye on the rubber boy.

"Hey, mister!" Luffy said to Toto. "There's no water! My throat's dried out. It must be hard to live here."

Toto chuckled as he continued digging. "The water will come," he said confidently. "The Yuba Oasis still lives on. Yuba cannot be defeated by mere sand. I'll just dig it away again. This is the land I was given by the king."

Luffy and Ben looked at Toto, then at each other. The two nodded and got into the sand.

"Okay," Luffy said. "Let's dig!" he started digging in the ground. But the sand he was kicking up was getting into Toto's hole.

"Hey, wait!" Toto said. "Don't throw sand in my hole!"

Luffy looked up at him in confusion. "Huh?"

"You said you wanted to dig a hole," Toto pointed out.

"Uhhhh, yeah, I am," Luffy said.

"Luffy," Ben said. "You're getting sand in the hole Mr. Toto already made. Try digging somewhere else."

"Oh," Luffy said as he looked at the hole he had started on. "Okay." He went over to a different spot and started digging some more.

"Here," Ben said. "I know somebody who can speed this up." He activated the Omnitrix, turned the dial, and slammed it down. In a flash of green light, Ben turned into Armodrillo.

"What in the…?" Toto cried out in shock and falling over on his backside.

Armodrillo put his hands on the ground. "Okay," he said. "Time to do some digging." Focusing his jackhammer arms, Armodrillo disappeared into the ground. Toto stared dumbfounded at what he saw.

"Who…or what…is that boy?"

"That's Ben!" Luffy said. "He can turn into aliens!"

"Aliens?" Toto repeated.

Suddenly Armodrillo burst out of the ground. "Hey guys!" he called.

Toto and Luffy ran over and saw that there was a puddle of water in the hole Armodrillo made.

"Water!" Luffy cried.

"Sorry," Armodrillo said. "It's all I could find."

Toto stared at the puddle of water in awe, then he smiled.

"Kid," Toto said. "You managed to find water. I have a feeling there's plenty more out there."

And so, with newfound hope, the alien, the pirate, and the villager, begging digging for more water. And sure enough, with Armodrillo's digging ability, they were able to find puddles scatterd around the oasis. Toto's face lit up with joy.

"Didn't I tell you?" He cried happily. "Yuba cannot be defeated by mere sand!"

The next day, everyone was heading out. Vivi had been so thrilled to see even the slightest bit of water in Yuba and happily hugged Luffy and Ben for their assistance. Sanji was fuming nearby.

"I am sorry for acting so disgracefully, Vivi," Toto said as the crew prepared to head out.

"No, don't worry," Vivi reassured him.

"We're going now, Mr. Toto," Luffy said.

Toto nodded. "Yes…Luffy-kun, Ben-kun. Please take these." He held out small containers of water and gave it to them. "If it wasn't for you two, I wouldn't have found so much water so soon. I owe you both."

"Water!" Luffy said as he held his container like it was a treasure.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Ben asked Toto. "I mean, this is your water after all."

Toto grinned. "Yuba will not be conquered by sand, Ben. If I had any doubts, you two got rid of them. Take it."

Smiling, Ben took the water container from Toto. "Thank you, sir."

* * *

With that, the gang left Yuba and headed back towards Nanohana to find the rebellion. They seemed even more confident than before to stop this war. But then, something odd happened.

"Luffy," Kevin called over to Luffy, who was sitting next to dead tree with his arms behind his head. "What in the world are you doing?"

Luffy seemed to be thinking. A frown was on his face.

"What's wrong, Luffy-san?" Vivi asked curiously.

Zoro watched his captain with narrowed eyes.

Luffy looked up at the others. "I quit."

"WHAT?!"

* * *

 _ **AN: That's it for now!**_


	9. Chapter 9

**_AN: Here's the revised chapter._**

* * *

The others all stared at Luffy in dumbfoundment. Did he just say he quit?

"What in the world is that supposed to mean?" Ben asked. "Are you saying that you quit trying to stop Crocodile?"

"No," Luffy replied.

"Then what do you mean you quit?" Gwen asked in confusion.

Luffy looked at Vivi now. "Vivi," he said. "I want to beat the crap out of Crocodile."

Vivi gasped while Kevin looked back and forth between the two in confusion. "Ooookay. So...what's the problem?"

"If we stop the guys who are rebelling," Luffy said. "Will we stop Crocodile? We can't do anything even if we go to this place. We're pirates. You'd be better off without us."

"Oh, come on," Ben said, realizing what Luffy was quitting. "You're just giving up because all you care about is beating up Crocodile. What is wrong with you? We need to stop all those people from getting killed."

"Boooring," Luffy replied.

Ben's eyes narrowed. "What did you say?" He reached for the Omnitrix.

Luffy ignored Ben and continued looking at Vivi. "You just don't want anyone to die in this war. The people of your country, or us, or anyone."

"What's wrong with that?" Ben asked, really not liking the way Luffy was acting. Wasn't the whole point of their mission here to save the countless lives that were being ruined by Crocodile. Did the only thing Luffy cared about was beating up someone? To Ben, who cared about saving lives and helping people, this kind of talk was getting him angry.

Luffy closed his eyes and continued leaning against the tree. "You're talking about a fight against one of the Shichibukai," he said. "In which over a million people will be in battle. And all you want is for no one to die!"

Sweat was starting to drip down Vivi's forehead. Ben's own hand gripped the Omnitrix tightly.

Luffy opened his eyes now. "That's naive."

Ben grit his teeth. "How is that naive? Wasn't the whole point of us coming to prevent people from dying? And you all care about is beating up Crocodile? What is your problem?"

Luffy looked at Ben. "People die."

Before Ben could say anything else, Vivi punched Luffy flying into the sand.

"Stop talking like that! Don't you dare say that again, that's what we're trying to stop!" Vivi shouted, "You can't blame the rebels or the army for this, why should anyone die?! This is all Crocodile's fault!"

"Then why are you risking _your_ life?!" Luffy yelled as he punched Vivi in the cheek.

Oh that was it. After hearing Luffy talk like that with that uncaring tone of his and hitting Vivi made Ben snap. He, a boy who had spent most of his life protecting people and saving their lives, to hear something as callous as that, was unable to bear it. Angrily, Ben activated the Omnitrix and slammed the dial down. In flash of green light, Ben transformed into what appeared to be a muscular, tail-less, nine foot tall, bipedal tiger with one claw coming out of each wrist.

"RATH!" the new form yelled in vicious rage that caused the others to take a step away from him. This form...sounded very angry.

"Oh, crap," Kevin said, remembering Rath very well out of all of Ben's aliens.

The giant cat-like alien wasted in no time in leaping into the air. Then he soared back down and delivered a pile driver fist into Luffy's face. The blow sent Luffy into the sand. The Straw Hat crews' jaws dropped and eyes widened at the violent action the usually level-headed Ben just did.

"Ben! Stop it!" Gwen cried. She too was familiar with Rath's attitude problem, so she knew that right now, with Ben already being made in his human form, would just make things worse now.

But Rath was too blinded by rage to listen to reason. He grabbed Luffy's head and yanked it in front of him. "Let me tell you something, Monkey D. Luffy! Rath is not gonna listen to you talk like that again! Do you hear me? How about you just shut your mouth?!" he slammed Luffy into the sand again.

The others watched in horror at Rath's actions. They had never seen Ben this vicious before. Zoro and Sanji immediately ran towards Rath. The cat alien heard them coming and turned around.

"You wanna fight? You wanna fight?" he challenged. Just then a rubber fist shot out of the ground and struck Rath in the back, causing him to shoot forward and slam into Sanji and Zoro before they had the chance to dodge. All three sprawled into the ground. But Rath quickly picked himself back up and turned around. Luffy was standing up and moving towards him. Growling, Rath charged at him.

"Gum Gum...Pistol!" Luffy yelled, shooting his fist at Rath.

But the tiger alien grabbed Luffy's fist before it could come in contact with him. Instead he twist his body and yanked Luffy's arm. This caused the rubber boy in turn to shoot forward. But Rath lifted the arm over his head and swung downwards to the ground. The momentum caused Luffy to slam into the ground.

"Is that you got, rubber boy?" Rath taunted. "I thought you were better than that!"

Just then Luffy's leg slammed into Rath's face, causing the tiger to stagger backwards while grabbing his nose. But Luffy wasn't done with his assault.

"Gum Gum...Gatling Gun!" he cried. Luffy then unleashed a barrage of punches to Rath's body. Due to his stretching powers, Luffy appeared to be delivering multiple punches at the same time. Rath seemed helpless. But then the tiger reached out and managed to grab Luffy's arms. He pulled, making the rubber boy shoot towards him again. But this time, Rath delivered a headbutt to the boy. The blow seemed to stun Luffy so Rath began delivering his own punches to Luffy's stomach. But Luffy stretched his arms and slammed a Gum Gum Bazooka to Rath's gut, making him release Luffy. The two snarled at each other and charged.

"Ben-san! Luffy-san!" Vivi cried, terrified at seeing her friends fight. "Please stop this!"

"He's the one who doesn't care about people dying!" Rath roared as he and Luffy engaged in a fist fight with each other. "Leaving people to die is not cool!"

"Ben, you're not thinking!" Gwen shouted. "Calm down for a minute..."

"Let me tell you something, Gwen Tennyson!" Rath snapped at her. "You don't tell me to calm down!"

"Oi!" Sanji yelled at him. "You don't yell at Gwen-chan like that!"

"Let me tell you something, curly-brow!" Rath retorted. "Rath is sick and tired of you being a pervert! It's not even funny!"

"Why you..." Sanji said dangerously as he prepared to kick Rath. But Kevin grabbed him.

"Trust me, man," he said. "You'll only make him madder."

Zoro began pulling out his swords. But Rath merely sneered.

"Now, you're making it interesting," the tiger said smugly.

"Zoro, don't!" Gwen warned. "He can't help it right now."

"Guys, what is going on?" Nami asked, looking at this scene fearfully. "Why is Ben acting like this?"

"That's Rath," Kevin explained to her. "He's the most aggressive alien in Ben's watch. He's part of the Appoplexian race. They're really aggressive and stupid, thinking that violence and hitting stuff is the solution to everything."

At that moment, Luffy took the chance to attack. He punched Rath in the side, causing the Appoplexian to yell out. But instead of clutching his side in pain or doing anything a normal person would do when injured, Rath lunged into the air and body-slammed Luffy. The two of them were now wrestling in the sand.

Vivi gulped as she continued to watch Luffy and Rath fighting each other. She was certain though, that if Luffy didn't have his Gum Gum Fruit powers, he would have lost this match a long time ago. "I didn't know Ben could turn into such a vicious form."

"Well, Luffy really ticked him off," Kevin replied. "Ben's a hero where we come from. Saving lives is what he does. So to hear Luffy just shrug off people dying like that...it really got to him."

"There's got to be something we can do," Nami said as Rath tried to put Luffy in a choke-hold only for Luffy to pull out of the way and strike him in the side. . "We can't just let them fight like this."

"Well what can we do?" Kevin said as Rath retaliated by slashing Luffy with his claw. Luckily Luffy moved out of the way and it only tore his vest. "Neither looks like they're going to listen to each other."

Gwen tapped her chin as she thought about what they were going to do to settle this. Then it came to her. Quickly she reached out with her mana and held both boys away from each other. "That's enough!" she yelled. "Luffy! What did you mean by Vivi risking only _her_ life?"

Luffy and Rath looked at each other, glaring daggers as if hoping that would physically wound the other. After what seemed like forever...

"Vivi, Looking around in just one day in this country, and even I can tell!" he said.

"TELL WHAT?!" she demanded.

"What this country needs! You think putting just your life on the line is enough to stop this from happening?!" he asked.

"Then what exactly should I put on the line then Luffy?!" she asked as Luffy grabbed her wrists. She glared at him before she calmed down and said "All I have to put on the line is my life! That's all."

"HOW ABOUT OUR LIVES THEN?!" Luffy demanded as he screamed out. "WE'RE YOUR FRIENDS, REMEMBER?!" Vivi could only stare as her eyes welled up. "Did you forget we're your friends Vivi?" he asked before she broke down completely and sobbed as as Rath widened his eyes in realization from his words. He picked up his hat and dusted it off before speaking. "You hate all that's happening here, so you wanna get Crocodile the most." he said as Nami and Gwen hugged Vivi as she cried. Everyone else watched as Vivi, the Princess who loved a country that was killing itself, cry her eyes out as Luffy stood up and placed his hat on his head. "Now tell me Vivi...Where's Crocodile?"

Rath touched the Omnitrix symbol and turned back to normal. Ben could see what Luffy's intentions were. That stopping the Rebels will not get rid of Crocodile nor prevent any loss of life and they should go to Rainbase where Crocodile resides. He noted that even if they manage to reach the rebels, Crocodile will still try something to continue the war, it should be noted that, at this point, they still thought there was time before the battles started. It made Ben want to kick himself for jumping to conclusions like that.

"You know," Kevin said. "If this Crocodile is as tough as you say he is, we might need all of us to stop him."

"Who said I was fighting?" Nami asked, shocked at such an idea.

"Vivi," Gwen said, trying to lower the tension down. "Since you're going to be looking for the rebellion, we'll need you to tell us where to find Crocodile."

"Ye...yes," Vivi said hesitantly, blaming herself for the fact that two of her closest friends had just gotten into a brutal fight with each other. She nervously pulled out the map and pointed to a place. "This is the oasis called Rainbase, which is where Crocodile is. Straight to the north of Yuba. It will take a whole day to walk through the desert."

"Will there be water there?" Chopper asked. He was worried about what would happen if they ran out of water by the time they reached Rainbase.

"Yes, it will be safe," Vivi reassured him. "It's a gambling town, separate from all the fighting."

Nami looked up excitedly. Her eyes had turned into money signs. "Oooh, gambling?"

"Oh no," Zoro groaned. "What are you thinking?"

"Gambling, huh?" Kevin asked. "Sounds like fun."

"Kevin!" Gwen snapped at him.

"How's the supplies?" Usopp asked.

"We'll make it," Ben said. "I can turn into a bunch of alien heroes, remember?"

The others chuckled nervously at that. After seeing Rath's "little" temper tantrum, most like Nami and Usopp couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by Ben's powers.

"Hey Luffy," Ben started, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for earlier, I shouldn't have lost my temper like that."

Luffy just grinned, "That's okay! You did give me a good fight after all!"

* * *

And so, the Straw-Hats continued walking towards Rainbase. Surprisingly, Luffy had been very conservative about the water that he, Ben, and Mr. Toto had dug up. The words that Mr. Toto had said about not being defeated by mere sand got to him. Needless to say, the others were impressed. But later on...

"Aaaah," Luffy and Usopp said weakly as they walked through the desert. "Aaaaah."

"I thought I told you to stop doing that!" Nami snapped at them.

"Shut up, you're on the camel!" Luffy yelled at her.

"Yeah," Usopp agreed. "Let us ride too!"

"Camel-woman!

"Nami-camel!'

"Shut up!" Nami yelled at both of them, causing Ben and Kevin to laugh and even Gwen to giggle a little.

Zoro looked over at Chopper, who didn't seemed as bothered by the heat as he used to be. "You aren't all wiped out today, Chopper."

"Nope," Chopper said determinedly. "I'm sticking it out today."

"Heh," Sanji chuckled as he lit his cigarette.

* * *

The rebel army was preparing for a final assault on Alubarna to finally end this war and to free their country from it's current King, despite not having enough weaponry.

'Soon,' thought the rebel leader Kohza. 'Cobra's head will fall and this country will finally be able to rebuild.'

* * *

"I forbid it!" Cobra shouted. Cobra Nefertari, King of Alabasta, was denying his two head soldiers to attack for various reasons. Two were that the country is it's people and that attacking without knowing the enemy is pointless. Both Pell and Chaka were now discussing what to do about their soldiers unrest before a random soldier shouted that Carue had returned. Soon, Carue was drinking his fill of water as Chaka, Pell, and Cobra were discussing the letter that Carue had delivered. Soon, they found out that Vivi was okay, that Igaram's whereabouts were unknown, and about the friends she was traveling with. But what shocked them the most was the name of the man that was behind the tragedy that has befallen Alabasta and it's people: Crocodile.

* * *

"I see it!" Nami cried. "It's Rainbase!"

"We made it?" Usopp asked.

"Finally," Kevin groaned. "I'm surprised my legs are still attached."

"Yeesssss!" Luffy cried out happily. "Crocodile! Your ass is grass!"

Zoro frowned. "Shut up already."

* * *

 _ **End of Chapter**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Finally meeting Crocodile**_

* * *

There it was. Rainbase. At last they were here. Where Crocodile, the mastermind behind everything, was waiting for them. Luffy and the others had come to stop him once and for all.

Now it was showtime.

"Hey, Usopp," Nami said, taking her eyes away from the view of Rainbase. "How's it coming along? Did you finish?"

"It?" Sanji asked in confusion.

"Yeah," Usopp said. "I finished it." He pulled out what appeared to be short, metal bars. "Look! This is your new weapon! Clima-tact!"

"Clima-tact?" Nami said as she took the bars from Usopp.

"Yeah," Usopp replied. "At first it looks like your old ones, but these are totally different. The attack changes based on how you put them together."

Kevin raised an eyebrow skeptically at the metal bars. "Don't look like much to me."

"What do you know?" Usopp snapped.

Kevin smirked. "A lot more than you, that's for sure."

"What?" Usopp snapped.

"Kevin," Gwen said. "That's just rude."

"Usopp," Sanji said. "Don't give Nami-san any dangerous weapons."

Gwen looked at him. "Then how is she supposed to defend herself, Sanji?"

Sanji pointed at himself with a big smile. "You and Nami-san don't need to fight, Gwen-chan. Cause I'll protect you! Just call me "Prince". Hahaha!"

Gwen shook her head. Honestly, Sanji was more full of himself than Ben was.

"I'll call you something," Kevin said with a scowl.

"Prince," Zoro said casually, knowing very well that Sanji didn't like it.

"Shut up!" Sanji yelled, angry that it was Zoro who called him Prince and not Gwen or Nami.

Zoro looked at Ben, Kevin, and Gwen, since they were the best out of their group when it came to plans. "Hey, do you think the Baroque Works knows we're here in this country."

"Probably," Gwen admitted. "We already ran into Mr. 2 and Mr. 3 managed to get here."

"So what?" Luffy asked.

"So there's probably a trap waiting for us," Ben said to Luffy.

"Which means we need to be careful and try not to draw attention to ourselves," Gwen pointed out.

"How come?" Luffy asked.

Kevin groaned. "Is being an ornament the only thing your head is good for?" he asked.

"What Gwen and Kevin mean is that we have no idea where the Baroque Works fighters could be hiding," Usopp explained to Luffy. He wasn't in the mood for more fighting to break out between the group. Ben and Luffy had already been at each other's throats. "There's no way we can get to Crocodile if we get caught first."

Assassination is their specialty," Zoro agreed.

Suddenly Luffy yelled to Rainbase. "Crocodile! Your butt is mine!"

Kevin growled in annoyance and looked like he was ready to literally pound some sense into Luffy when Gwen got in front of him.

"Easy, Kevin," Gwen said to calm him down.

"How?" Kevin asked her. "This guy's a total idiot. And _he's_ supposed to be the captain?"

Nami groaned. "Look. We're not going to get anything done if we just stand around arguing. Let's go already."

Soon, the gang reached Rainbase. It was quite a sight to behold. Everyone was hustling, bustling, and going on with there lives as if nothing serious was going on in the world.

"This place sure looks lively." Kevin said as he looked around.

"Well, Vivi told me that Rainbase still thrives because of its gambling industry," Gwen said.

Just then, the young Anodite and Osmosain felt something shove past them, screaming for water. It didn't take long for them to realize that it was Luffy and Usopp. Gwen shook her head.

"I can't believe those two."

"Well that's what they get for letting Usopp chug all that water back in the desert. Even though Me and Luffy dug up plenty." Ben said.

"Should we really have let them do it?" Sanji asked, unaware of Kevin and Gwen's previous discussion.

"It's only an errand," Nami pointed out, sitting next to a fence. "They can do it."

"Vwo!" Eyelash said, relieved from having to walk across the desert so much.

"I'm gonna go take a whiz," Chopper said, walking off. There wasn't much worry as the reindeer had gone into his Walking Point form before entering Rainbase. So now he just looked like a regular reindeer. Albeit one with a blue nose and clothing on.

"I wonder..." Zoro said. "You don't think they'd come back with trouble? Maybe we should be prepared for that."

Gwen smiled at Zoro. "Come on, Zoro. They just went to get water."

"Yeah?" Kevin asked. "And what about what happened at Nanohana? Luffy led a bunch of marines right to us."

Gwen now gave a sheepish smile. "Good point." she admitted.

Just then, the group heard Luffy and Usopp's voices in the distance.

"Why are the marines here?" Luffy cried.

"How should I know?" Usopp replied. "Let's just get out of here."

"Crap," Sanji muttered as he looked in the direction the voices came from. "The marines are chasing them!"

Sure enough, Luffy and Usopp were running down the street carrying several barrels of water. Behind them were a squad of marines. And at the head of the squad was that smoke guy Luffy and Heatblast had fought.

Kevin chuckled. "I should've made a bet."

"Are you kidding?" Nami asked in response to Sanji. "Why are they running over here then?"

"Duh, this is Luffy we're talking about," Kevin said. He looked around for something to absorb. "So I guess we fight?"

"Sounds fine to me," Zoro said, drawing out his swords.

"Are you two crazy?" Nami demanded. "We don't have time for this!"

"I got this!" Gwen said as the marines were coming at them. She raised her hands and fired beams of mana at the pursuing marines. The end of the beams connected to make a giant rectangle of mana that shot towards Luffy and Usopp's pursuers.

Smoker's eyes widened. "What in the..." he managed to say before he quickly turned into smoke and flew over the mana wall. His men were not so lucky and were slammed backwards by it. Smoker, still floating in the air, stared at Gwen in wonder. "How in the world did she do that? What devil fruit did she eat?"

A green flash was seen as Terraspin appeared in Ben's place, he then used his wind powers to blow Smoker away. The marine captain could feel himself coming apart from the intense winds.

"Come on!" Gwen called as they started running.

"Hold on," Kevin said even as they were running. "Where's Chopper?"

"Leave him," Zoro said. "He'll be fine."

"Says you!" Kevin snapped. "If anything happens to him, I'm blaming you."

"Hey, guys!" Luffy called to the others. "The Marines are coming!"

"You brought them over here!" the others shouted back in response.

* * *

Smoker narrowed his eyes as he finally reformed himself. So far Straw Hat was proving to be a very dangerous pirate. First he was crew mates with former bounty hunter Zoro, then there was that boy who could turn into monsters. Now there was that girl with some kind of purple ability. And those were only two members. What were the others capable of?

* * *

"This isn't good, people!" Sanji shouted as the gang ran through the streets of Rainbase. "Running around like this will help the Baroque Works spot us!"

"Then what do you suggest, curly brow!" Kevin snapped.

"I think it's too late," Zoro said when he noticed that several people with weapons had been looking at what appeared to be wanted posters. He wouldn't be surprised if those were the crews' wanted posters and that those guys were Baroque Works agents.

"Let's go then," Luffy said with a grin and determined look in his eye. "Where is Crocodile?"

Kevin pointed to a building up ahead. The building stuck out because of the large pyramid on top with a crocodile at the tip. "There. Something tells me that's where Crocodile is."

Terraspin made a face at him a he hovered above. "You're just saying that because the building has a crocodile on it, aren't you?"

Kevin grinned. "That's right!"

"We should scatter," Sanji said.

"Yeah," Zoro agreed.

"We'll meet back up," Luffy said. "At the Croc's house!"

With that, the crew scattered in different directions.

"They split up!" one marine cried.

"Don't let them get away!"

Luffy made a face at Smoker as he leaped into the air. "Come and get me, Smokey!" He taunted, even sticking his tongue out at his foe.

Smoker glared at Luffy. "That little punk! Don't think you can run away forever! White Bind!"

Smoker turned his body into smoke and spiraled into the air towards Luffy. Soon, he wrapped his smokey body around the rubber captain. But Luffy refused to let that stop him. So he began taking a deep breath.

"Gum Gum...Balloon!" With that, Luffy expanded like a literal balloon.

The expansion caught Smoker off guard, making him turn back to his normal solid state. With nothing holding either up, Luffy and Smoker plummeted to the ground. Somehow they both landed in a yard full of horses. But Luffy didn't have time to notice as he quickly started climbing over the fence to get away from Smoker, who had gotten back to his feet.

"Oh no you don't!" Terraspin exclaimed as he unleashed another torrent of wind which dispersed Smoker's form before he even realized it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and Kevin all ran in one direction. Usopp and Nami ran due to safety in numbers. Sanji had ran to make sure that Nami was okay. Kevin followed because he thought that Gwen was with the group and didn't trust Sanji with her. Needless to say, he was pretty annoyed when he saw that Gwen wasn't there.

"What are we doing running for?" Kevin said, seeing how there wasn't much point in them just running. "Let's fight."

"Are you crazy?" Nami and Usopp asked. "We can't turn to stone like you can."

Kevin grinned as he put his hand on the ground. In an instant, his whole body turned to stone. The marines came to a screeching halt when they saw this.

"So," Kevin said as he turned his hands into a mace and sledgehammer. "Who's first?"

Sanji came to a stop and stood facing the marines.

"Usopp!" Sanji said as he faced down the marines.

Usopp looked back at the blonde cook. "Huh?"

"Take care of Nami-san," Sanji said. "Kevin and I will stop these guys."

"What?" Nami and Usopp cried.

"O...okay," Usopp said as he started running. But he did look back and call to Kevin and Sanji. "Good luck."

"Sanji-kun...Kevin..." Nami said in concern.

Soon, the two escaped, leaving Kevin and Sanji to face the coming Marines. Sanji chuckled. "Rest in peace."

* * *

So far, it looked like Gwen and Vivi weren't being pursued by any marines or Baroque Works agents.

 _I hope the others are alright._ Gwen thought to herself as she continued running.

* * *

Elsewhere, Zoro was already caught up in the fights. Many of the marines wielded swords, but they were nothing.

"He wasn't good enough," Zoro said after defeating another marine. "Try again!" Suddenly he grimaced when he saw who was coming towards him. "Not her!"

"Roronoa Zoro!" Tashigi yelled, glaring at Zoro. "So, we meet again."

Zoro cringed. "Look, I don't want to fight you! Our match is over!"

Tashigi was furious. "No it is not! We have not yet truly crossed swords!"

Zoro was getting ticked now. "Stop looking like that!" he yelled, pointing at Tashigi, who was taken aback by this.

"Wha...what?" she yelled. "Why you horrible... You still insist on humiliating me?"

"Crap," Zoro muttered. "I can't fight her!" With that, he turned around and started running.

"Hey! Wait!" Tashigi yelled at him.

* * *

"Gyaaaaaaaah!" Usopp cried.

"Nooooooooo!" Nami screamed.

The two of them had managed to land themselves into trouble. They ditched the marines but were now being chased by agents of Baroque Works.

"It's them!" One cried. "Kill them!"

"Go away, Baroque Works!" Usopp shouted, kicking some barrels that he leaped over towards them.

The Baroque Works agents laughed. "What a stupid..." But then the barrels knocked against some nearby stacks of crates. The force caused the crates to fall onto the agents.

"Whoa...it worked!" Usopp exclaimed, shocked that his move actually saved them.

"Wow!" Nami said, giving Usopp a thumbs up. "Good work, Usopp!"

As they continued running, Nami pointed ahead. The building with the crocodile on top of a pyramid was right in front of them. "Looks!" she said. "There's the entrance! It's built in the middle of a lake!"

Sure enough, the building was built in the middle of a lake, with a bridge allowing visitors to enter and leave it.

"No one else is here yet?" Usopp cried, shocked that he and Nami made it first. What could have happened to the others that prevented them from getting here?

"Take aim and fire!" someone cried. Nami and Usopp saw that several people were in front of the building with guns aimed at them. "Those are the first two!"

"Enemies!" Nami and Usopp cried, already raising their hands in surrender.

Just then Zoro appeared and slammed a kick into the first shooter he could reach. While his kicks weren't as strong as Sanji's, his blow was more than enough make them slam into each other and collapse in a big heap.

"Zoro!" Nami cried in relief. "Did you see the others?"

Zoro shook his head. "No, I didn't. But they can look after themselves. They might be inside already."

"Then we have to hurry," Nami said.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!" a voice cried, causing the three to look behind.

"Luffy!" Zoro shouted when he recognized who it was. Sure enough, it was Luffy and Terraspin too. And they were being chased by Smoker.

"Wait, Straw-hat!" Smoker yelled as he chased after Luffy.

"This guy just doesn't give up!" Terraspin said as he turned back to normal.

"Smokey's chasing me!" Luffy cried as he continued running. "Let's go, everybody! Run inside! Run!"

Soon, he and Ben ran over to the other four. They wasted no time in running towards the crocodile building with Smoker not far behind.

"Just you wait, Crocodile!" Luffy shouted.

* * *

Within the building, Crocodile was talking to Ms. All Sunday.

"So," Crocodile said. "The pirates have finally made it to this town?"

"Yes," Ms. All Sunday said. "I just got word from the Millions."

"Kuhahahahahaha!" Crocodile laughed at hearing this news. "Bring those insignificant rats in to see me!"

"Sure," Ms All Sunday replied with a casual smile.

* * *

"Crocodile!" Luffy bellowed. "Get your butt out here!"

Currently, Luffy, Ben, Zoro, Nami, and Usopp were inside the building with the pyramid and the crocodile. Turns out it was a gigantic casino. Oddly enough, the many gamblers just continued gambling, just ignoring Luffy's challenge.

"Come on!" Luffy shouted, as if he thought that would make Crocodile instantly appear. Instantly Nami and Usopp punched the back of his head.

"How is that going to make him show up, you dip-stick?" Nami asked.

"He's the hero of the country," Ben reminded Luffy. "You want to make the customers here your enemies too?"

Luffy huffed in annoyance. "Fine! So...what do we do?"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Usopp said. "Vivi never told us what Crocodile looks like!"

Nami slapped a hand to her face. "Oh, man. Vivi, where are you?"

"Vivi!" all four shouted. "Crocodile!"

"Hey," Zoro said in annoyance at the three's antics.

"Assistant Manager," one worker said. "Some strange people are here."

"Tell security to get rid of them. Don't let them cause a ruckus."

Just then Smoker burst into the casino. "I've got you now, Straw-hat!"

"No, sir!" two casino workers said as Smoker came by. "Government officials are not allowed inside the..."

"This place is on a lake!" Smoker shouted to Luffy, ignoring the employees. "You can't get away."

"It's Smokey!" Luffy cried, running away from the marine. Zoro, Ben, Usopp, and Nami ran after him. They were too busy trying to get away from Smoker that they didn't notice three rather muscular guys in suits stand in their way.

"Excuse us, gentlemen," they said. "We'd like for you to step outside for a min..."

But that's when Luffy obliviously plowed through them, sending them crashing into nearby customers and machines. One even crashed into a slot machine and caused gold coins to start pouring out.

"Forgive me, manager," the assistant manager said. "Someone has..."

"Bring them to the VIP room," said the manager. The assistant stared in shock.

"Crocodile's orders," said the manager...who was none other than Ms. All Sunday.

* * *

"Hey!" Usopp said as they began running down a hallway. "Look at that!"

Ahead of them was a pair of giant doors. Above the doors were the words V.I.P. Along the way were many men and women gesturing them towards the door.

"Right this way, please! This is the V.I.P. room."

"Is he saying "bring it on"?" Ben asked.

Zoro smirked. "Clever guy."

"C'mon!" Luffy shouted. "Let's go!"

Smoker was confused as he continued his pursuit. "VIP? What do they have to do with Crocodile?"

Soon the Straw Hat crew burst through the VIP doors.

"What's VIP mean?" Luffy asked out of the blue.

Nami whimpered. "This is leading us straight to our deaths."

As the gang ran down the hallway that the doors led to, they came to a sign.

"Look!" Luffy said. "The paths split."

Sure did. The hallway now led to two separate ways. In front of them was a sign with arrows on it. The arrow pointing left had the words VIP above it. The word above the right arrow was Pirate."

"The VIP room is to the left!" Usopp said.

"No, wait!" Luffy said. "We're pirates! This way!"

So, the gang ran to the right. And when they did...

"Aaaaah! The floor's collapsing!"

The next thing everyone knew, they along with Smoker were in some kind of caged room with a long bench for sitting in. Smoker was sitting on the bench, Zoro was pacing in the middle, Nami was kneeling on the floor, while Luffy, Ben, and Usopp simply stared at the bars in front of them.

"A fiendlishly clever trap," Luffy said, crossing his arms.

"Indeed it was," Usopp agreed casually.

"That's exactly what he wanted you to do!" Nami screamed at them. "How could you be so stupid?"

"And besides," Luffy said weakly as he put his hands on the bars. "I can't feel any power."

"What, are you hungry or something?" Usopp asked.

Just then, Smoker removed his Jutte from his back and swung it at Luffy. Before the rubber captain had time to defend himself, he was struck and flipped to the ground. Smoker walked over and put the tip of his jutte on Luffy's stomach.

"Y...you wanna fight?" Usopp asked, assuming a karate pose. It would've looked more convincing if he wasn't shaking so badly.

"What the...?" Luffy asked. "I can barely move. Like I fell in water or something."

"Yeah," Smoker said. "That's right."

"W...what did you do to Luffy?" Usopp asked.

"The end of this club is made of something called sea-stone," Smoker explained. "A mysterious stone that only exists in a certain sea. All the marine headquarters' prisons are made of the stuff. It keeps criminals with "the power" from getting away. This metal is still a mystery to us but what we do know is that it emits the same kind of energy as the sea does. Just think of it as a solidified form of the sea."

"So that's what's making Luffy weak," Ben realized.

"Then this cage is made of the same..." Nami started to ask.

"If it wasn't," Smoker replied. "I'd be long gone. After destroying the whole lot of you of course."

Zoro began to draw his swords. Smoker returned his piercing gaze.

"Oh yeah?" Four Arms may have something to say about that," Ben said as he reached for the Omnitrix but the holographic circle opened up to reveal that it was now in Recharge mode, "Aw, why new Omnitrix, why?!"

"Gyaaaaa!" Usopp cried. "No, wait! How can you fight while we're in this predicament?"

"He's right," a voice from outside the cage said. "Cut it out!"

The group turned around to see that they were inside some of kind of room that screamed fine luxury. Not too far from the cage was a couch. And sitting on the couch was none other than...

"You'll kill each other," Crocodile said. "Why can't you just be friends?"

"Crocodile!" Smoker shouted, recognizing him.

Crocodile looked at Smoker. "Oooh, you really are a stray hound, Smoker. You never thought of me as your ally from the start." He got up from the couch and walked towards the cage. "Oh...that's right. I was going to have you die in an "accident". I reported that you've been fighting the "Straw Hats" several times. Kuhahahaha! I don't know why you came here, but it was obviously of your own accord. The governments believe me. They wouldn't send marines here normally..."

"So that's one of the Shichibukai," Zoro said while Nami and Usopp raised their arms in fear and possibly surrender.

"So you are Crocodile, huh?" Luffy asked as he started to push himself up off the ground. He lunged at the bars. "Hey, you!" Then he started to get and groggy due to the seastone. "Fighhh meeeh." He started to sink to the ground.

"Don't touch the cage!" Usopp shouted at him.

Crocodile chuckled at Luffy. "You did well to come this far, Straw Hat. I never thought I'd actually meet you. Don't worry, I'll be killing you all very soon. I must say, you all have been a thorn in my side."

"You won't get away with this." Ben said as he glared at the Shichibukai."

"Ah. So you're the shapeshifter, I must say that's a very interesting ability you possess. Its too bad that you have to die now."

Ben growled at Crocodile.

* * *

Back outside, Gwen found herself hiding by one of the nearby buildings having been separated from Vivi. Not too far stood the casino. So far things hadn't been looking good. She couldn't find the others anywhere and didn't know where to look. There was a chance that they were already inside the casino, but if not, did something happen to them?

"There she is!" someone shouted.

Gwen turned around to see a group of people coming at her. Since they weren't wearing Marine uniforms, these guys had to be agents of Baroque Works. Gwen sighed. She had managed to get so far without having to worry about trouble. Now it finally found her.

The men raised their guns. Luckily Gwen was able to create a barrier of mana before they had the chance to fire. They were struck dumb by what they saw. She quickly responded by blasting them with mana. She knew she had to get inside the casino and fast now that there might be more coming.

"Wait, young lady!" a voice called.

Gwen stopped and quickly turned around. What happened? More agents already? Hearing a sound above her, Gwen looked up. She gasped.

Flying towards her was some kind of being that looked like a cross between a man and falcon. He was wearing white robes over his body and a strange hat like garment on his head. Weapons that looked like Gatling guns were strapped to his wings. Before Gwen could do anything, the falcon man landed next to her. In an instant, he transformed into man with pale white skin with strange black lines coming from his eyes and down his cheek.

"Greetings, young lady," the man said. "I am..."

"It's Pell the Falcon!" Someone shouted.

Gwen and the one called Pell turned to see a whole bunch of people staring at Pell in shock. Judging from the weapons they were all carrying, they had to be Baroque Works.

"The strongest warrior in all of Arabasta!" one agent cried.

Gwen's eyes widened as she looked at Pell in shock.

Pell chuckled as he faced the agents. "Excuse me, miss." he said to Gwen. "I will deal with this quickly." His body became like that of a bird-man again. "The Bird Bird Fruit: Model Falcon. One of the only five types of "flying powers" ever discovered."

"Shoot him!" Someone cried. "Shoot him dead!"

In a fantastic swoosh, Pell flew through in a speed that almost rivaled Jet Ray's.

"Flying Claws!" Pell shouted.

All of the men went flying over the place from Pell's attack.

"Wow," Gwen said as Pell flew back to her.

"Now," Pell said. "Before we were so rudely interrupted. My name is Pell. I am one of the Commanders of the Arabasta Guard."

Comprehension dawned on Gwen. "So that means Vivi's message reached the palace?"

"Indeed it did," Pell said with a nod. "I was sent ahead to find the princess. After I saw those men attack you, I figured that you were one of Vivi's friends that she mentioned in her report."

Gwen nodded now. "I'm Gwen Tennyson. I got separated from the others."

"What of the princess?" Pell asked in concern.

"She's not with us," Gwen said. "She's probably with the rest of the crew."

"What?" Pell cried.

"It's okay," Gwen reassured him. "My cousin Ben can protect her. I know this is hard to believe but he was the best one out of all of us to keep her safe. Trust me."

Pell's eyes furrowed. Well this was an unexpected development. He had come to aid the princess, only to learn that she wasn't even here to begin with.

"If the princess isn't with you," Pell said to Gwen. "Why are you here?"

"We came here to stop Crocodile."

"How interesting," a voice said. "You seem quite determined." Gwen gasped to see Ms. All Sunday walking towards her and Pell. But Ms. All Sunday ignored her to look at Pell. "How magnificent. The first time I've ever seen a human that could fly. But...I wonder if you're stronger than me."

"Gwen Tennyson," Pell said as he faced Ms. All Sunday. "Are these the people Princess Vivi was talking about? The ones who are trying to destroy our country?"

Gwen nodded. "Yes. That's Ms. All Sunday. Crocodile's right hand woman."

Ms. All Sunday smiled at Gwen. "I must say that you and your friends truly surpassed my expectations."

Pell and Gwen both gasped in shock at Ms. All Sunday's words.

"That's what the boss is curious about," Ms. All Sunday replied. "Especially since this boy keeps turning into more and more monsters. It wouldn't happen to be that little green and white device on his wrist would it?"

Gwen's eyes narrowed. Pell's did too but they held a small amount of confusion. Monsters? Green and White Device?

"I'm certain the boss would love to get his hands on that device," Ms. All Sunday continued. "Especially with that device really does let you turn into monsters."

Gwen's face darkened. "You're not laying a finger on my cousin."

Ms. All Sunday smiled at Gwen. "Your cousin, eh? Why are you worried about him? He's not even here yet. Shouldn't you be worried more about your other friends?"

Gwen's eyes widened before quickly narrowing again. "Where are they?"

Ms. All Sunday smiled coyly. "If you want, I could take you to them."

"Cut the crap, already!" Pell snapped at her."That's out of the question."

"You," Gwen said as she looked at Ms. All Sunday. "What's your game? First you filled that man Igaram and then you tricked us into going to Little Garden..."

"What?" Pell said, looking at Gwen. "What did you say?" He turned to face Ms. All Sunday. His face was one of pure rage. "You... _killed_ Igaram-san?"

"What are you so angry about?" Ms. All Sunday asked him. "How is that different from what you just did to my employees? What a joke!"

In blind fury, Pell turned into his bird form and shot towards Ms. All Sunday. "Curse you!" he screamed. "I'll turn you into Arabastian sand!"

Still smiling, Ms. All Sunday crossed her arms. "Tres Fleur!"

Suddenly three arms appeared on Pell's body. Two of them appeared on his back and the third on his chest.

"Wha..." Pell cried out in shock.

The first two arms grabbed each other. But they did so by gripping Pell's wings. He tried to pull out the blade he was carrying but the third arm's hand held it in place. With his wings incapacitated, Pell lost his trajectory and crashed to the side.

"Arms and hands?" Gwen asked, staring. "A devil fruit user."

Ms. All Sunday smiled at Gwen. "That's right. I ate the Flower Flower Fruit. I can make various parts of my body grow out, like flowers. That is my power." To prove her point, she made four arms appear on herself. Three of them appeared on her left elbow while the fourth appeared on her right shoulder. "As long as my body is willing to grow anywhere, I will never let you escape."

Pell, who had turned back to normal, got back to his feet. "Escape?" He repeated. "Ridiculous! I will avenge Igaram-san right here!"

"Really?" Ms. All Sunday asked. "I'm sorry, then."

"I'd love to stay here and play with you some more...but I just don't have the time."

"Don't worry!" Pell said as he pull out his sword and charged at her. "You won't need any."

"I don't think you understand yet," Ms. All Sunday said as Pell came at her. "Seis Fleur!"

Four arms appeared on Pell's body now while two came out of the ground. They grabbed his legs, arms, and his neck.

Gwen gasped when she saw how easily he was caught.

"Strength," Ms. All Sunday said as she rushed at Pell. "Speed. They mean nothing to me. Clutch!"

The arms holding Pell's upper body and legs pulled back. A sickening crack was heard. Gwen brought a hand to her mouth in horror. The hands then removed Pell, causing his body to fall to the ground at an angle.

Ms. All Sunday chuckled. "So much for the strongest warrior in the kingdom."

The next thing that happened was a pink tendril of mana slamming into Ms. All Sunday and sending her sprawling to the ground. She immediately picked herself and looked her attacker.

Gwen Tennyson stood before Ms. All Sunday. Mana surrounded her fists and her eyes had a fierce, violet glow.

"You. Are. Going. Down." Gwen said angrily.

 _ **End of chapter.**_

* * *

 _ **AN: See you next time!**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Revelations, Reunions, and Restaurant Le Crap  
**_

* * *

Gwen Tennyson glared at her opponent furiously, if you couldn't already tell by the fact that her jaw was clenched and her eyes were glowing brightly. She glared at her opponent, Ms. All Sunday, second in command of the villainous Baroque Works and eater of a Devil Fruit known as the Flower Flower Fruit. A Paramecia type, judging from what Paradox had told her, that allowed Ms. All Sunday to sprout arms out of any surface, even another person's body.

Gwen had to admit to herself that she, Ben, and Kevin never came across an opponent like her before. With an ability like hers, it was little wonder why she was Crocodile's partner. And that brought in another worrying thought. If she was this strong, then how strong was Crocodile?

Ms. All Sunday on the other hand simply brushed herself off.

"Got to say, I'm impressed," she said with a smile at Gwen. "You caught me completely off guard." She looked over at Pell. "Hopefully you'll be more of a challenge than he was."

Gwen's fists tightened so much; it was amazing she wasn't bleeding yet. "Trust me...I am."

Gwen's next action was throwing mana disks at her opponent. If she was surprised by the mana attacks, Ms. All Sunday didn't show it as she dodged out of the way. Immediately she crossed her hands.

"Cuatro Fleur!"

Suddenly four arms sprouted on Gwen's body. Two of these arms grabbed her arms while the other two grabbed her legs. Gwen's arms were placed behind her back and her legs were pulled back, causing her to face first to the ground. She hissed in pain.

"That's some ability you have," Ms. All Sunday said as she walked over to Gwen. "I don't think I've ever seen a Devil Fruit power quite like that."

Gwen glared up at Ms. All Sunday. "Who said my power came from a Devil Fruit?"

Beams of mana shot from Gwen's eyes, striking Ms. All Sunday in her torso. The blast was strong enough to knock her back. As she did, the arms on Gwen's body vanished and the young Anodite wasted no time in getting back on her feet. Gwen theorized that Ms. All Sunday's powers must be fueled by her concentration. This meant if she wanted to win this fight, she would need to hit her hard and fast. Or at least immobilize her. It appeared that Ms. All Sunday needed to cross her arms in order to use her powers. So if Gwen prevented her from crossing her arms, her power would be useless.

So Gwen raised her hands and beams of mana fired at Ms. All Sunday. Instead of striking her like Ms. All Sunday thought they would, the beams wrapped around her like a lasso, binding her arms to her sides.

"Ha!" Gwen said triumphantly, thinking herself the winner. Then she gave Ms. All Sunday a hard look. "Now...where are my friends?"

Ms. All Sunday smiled at her which irked Gwen greatly. "You're pretty good," she told Gwen. "Much more interesting than he was." she looked over at Pell.

"Shut up," Gwen ordered. "Now tell me where my friends are."

"Oh my," Ms. All Sunday said. "First you tell me to shut up then you tell me to reveal where your friends are."

Gwen growled at her.

Ms. All Sunday smiled at her again and then closed her eyes. "Seis, Fleur."

Suddenly six arms appeared on Gwen's eyes. Two grabbed her legs, two grabbed her arms, and then the last pair grabbed her head and tilted it upward. This way, Gwen wouldn't be able to shoot Ms. All Sunday with her eye beams again. Gwen struggled but it was no use. The arms on hers managed to pry her arms away, causing her to release Ms. All Sunday.

"Let me guess," Ms. All Sunday said. "You thought that I couldn't use my powers if I couldn't move my regular arms. Sorry to disappoint you. That's just a pose I like to do."

Gwen gritted her teeth. A pose. And she fell for it. Big Time.

She could hear movement coming towards her, obviously Ms. All Sunday. If she could turn her head to look at her opponent, she would have. But right now, all she could see was the sky above her.

"You say your powers are not from a Devil Fruit," Ms. All Sunday said. "If that's so, where did you get them from?"

 _"My alien grandma."_ Gwen thought but said nothing aloud. Instead, she decided to try a different tactic dealing with this woman.

"Tempestus Erectum!"

A huge gust of wind came out of nowhere, summoned by Gwen's magical abilities. Ms. All Sunday tried her best to stay put but the wind was too much and blew her back into a nearby building.

Unable to see if she had gained the upper hand or not Gwen decided to try a new gamble. The arms were actual limbs, right? To Gwen, they felt like real flesh and blood. Gwen didn't know if Ms. All Sunday could feel what her extra arms felt or not, but Gwen was going to see if the arms could at least feel this! Concentrating hard, Gwen was able to make mana around her arms become snake like tendrils. Then Gwen focused on having them attack the extra limbs on her body. A lot trickier than it sounds, mind you, considering Gwen was always used to looking at her targets when she fought them. Focusing her power, she made the tendrils grab the limbs and began struggling with them for freedom. Deciding to test her theory about whether the arms had any feeling at all, she used her mana to twist one of the arms. It recoiled and the rest vanished. Nearby, Gwen heard a hiss of pain. Apparently whatever pain the arms felt, Ms. All Sunday felt. Interesting.

Gwen got back up to her feet, ready to end this fight. But just then two arms appeared around Gwen's leg and successfully broke it. Gwen screamed in pain as she fell down on her good leg's knee. Hearing footsteps, she looked up to see Ms. All Sunday walking up to her.

"I'm not sure who you are," The second in command of Baroque Works said. "But it seems that the boy who can turn into all those monsters isn't the only threatening member of the Straw-hats."

Despite her broken leg, Gwen managed to glare at Ms. All Sunday. "Don't underestimate us!" She opened her mouth to try and unleash another incantation when suddenly she felt a hand cover her mouth and her head tilted upwards again by two more hands. She tried to raise her hands to attack but arms came out of the ground and gripped hers tightly. More arms appeared out of the ground and grabbed her legs. Since they had grabbed her broken leg as well, it caused Gwen to scream into the hand covering her mouth.

"I congratulate you on catching me off guard many times," Ms. All Sunday said. "But as long as you can't use your hands, eyes, and mouth, you're helpless aren't you?"

Gwen responded to that by concentrating her mana in her into a pulse powerful enough to fling Ms. Sunday back into the building she had recently decorated with an indent of her body. With her enemy's concentration broken, Gwen took the opportunity to get herself as far away as possible by creating a platform of mana under her and flew off on it.

"Think you can get away?" Posing once more Ms. All Sunday went to create more arms on her opponent to attack her wound.

However Gwen thought ahead of this and had quickly recited another spell. "Apendija Rigoria!"

Ms. Sunday was stunned to find that her entire body was frozen in movement, which in turn rendered the hands on Gwen's body that she had produced immobile. With a little bit of strained effort Gwen managed one more spell to give her the time she needed to properly recuperate, "Camaflet Vaporis!"

The entire area was surrounded by a thick fog. The fog wouldn't last long given the heat of the desert but it would give Gwen the time she needed. Firing a tendril of mana she grabbed Pell and took off to another section of the city. As she was fleeing she grabbed a nearby piece of lumber and soundly thwacked the arms that were still clinging to her body. She had no idea if Ms. Sunday could sense where she was with her arms attached to her, but she didn't want to take the chance. And in all honesty it felt good to hit that witch for the cheap shot she had taken. Not leaving too far from Ms. Sunday for strategic and health reasons Gwen had ducked into a nearby and fortunately vacant building. It looked to be a small storeroom of some sort with a litter of craters here and there. Wanting to help Pell fast, she needed as much concentration as possible so she felt somewhat bad in healing herself first. With her glowing hands placed over her leg Gwen began to chant in Latin. With a little effort she was able to put her leg back in place. It wasn't as properly healed as she would want it but time was of the essence and she needed to conserve her strength to heal Pell and fight Ms. Sunday.

"Hang on Pell I'll get you up and running again." With a flick of her hand she had placed the wounded warrior on a set of crates, acting as a makeshift bed, with her mana placing him gently onto it. She was prepared to start healing the winged commander when a voice resounded off the walls of the outside street. It made Gwen freeze momentarily as she recognized it.

"Now don't you think you're being rude like that? Running off in the middle of a battle. Especially, seeing how I am on a tight schedule for the Boss."

Gwen's forehead started to sweat a little. 'Crap! I thought I would have more time.'

With a twisted grin on her face Ms. Sunday continued to talk with the dozens of mouths on the city's streets speaking at once amplifying her voice. "Don't bother to hide I have the ability to produce more than just my arms little girl. I can also duplicate my eyes and ears making it almost impossible to hide from little old me."

At this Gwen felt her heart beat louder and felt she would be found out easily from all the noise it was making. It made her feel like she was in a bad version of the Tell Tale Heart.

"So why don't you just be a good little girl and just surrender already. Mr. O does so hate tardiness and I don't plan on becoming a snack for one of his pet gators."

There was nothing but silence and a lone wind blowing through the streets almost as if the town itself waited with bated breath for the turnout of this conflict. Gwen said nothing while hoping fiercely that Pell didn't make any noises from his injured and disoriented state. A few moments passed before Ms. Sunday closed her eyes with small grin forming on her face.

"If that's your answer then you just made a terrible mistake. Your suffering is just going be that much harsher."

With her eyes still closed she crossed her arms once more to form dozens of eyes and ears throughout the street. Whether she was out of range of Ms. Sunday's powers or she was just toying with her, Gwen was sweating bullets at how close one of the body parts was to her position. She had about half a building of safety before her spot was discovered.

Truth be told Gwen wasn't sure what to do. At the moment she wished Ben and Kevin were here. Kevin could have provided the distraction she needed to hit Ms. All Sunday with a spell while Ben could turn into something like Echo Echo or Ditto to give this woman a run for her cloning abilities. That was how they worked. Together as a team. They always managed to cover one another's blind spots or weakness. They could just overpower or out maneuver whoever or whatever they came up against. When it came down to it she wasn't as good at thinking on the spot in a battle.

Despite what others may say Ben was a genius in battle. He always managed to think of something that would give him the upper hand in a fight. After all he was the one who was able to trick Vilgax into turning into Goop to get back the Omnitrix. She heard how he froze the drill in the Null Void and took away Dr. Animo's powers when even her grandfather couldn't figure it out. He was the one who took down the nanites by fighting the queen alone. He had grown into quite the warrior since their days as kids when he would just bash everything in sight. He was more tactical and resourceful than he let on.

 _'What am I going to do?'_ Gwen thought in her head. 'With all those arms she can produce it's like she has her own army.' Right there was when it hit Gwen. An army! She had one herself. 'Thank you Charmcaster.' At that thought she was saddened as she remembered that her once long time enemy was still trapped in Yahwahtacsip after the last time they encountered her. _'I promise. Ben, Kevin, and I will return to help you.'_

A little way away was Ms. Sunday taking her time looking for her opponent. She could have created more eyes to find her but given that she was going to be late anyway she decided to have a little fun. Besides she now wanted to see the full potential that Gwen might be capable of. She was definitely interested in that girl's abilities but also her mind and will as well. She had chastised Gwen for thinking she had figured out her weakness only to be reprimanded for doing the same thing.

'I know I shouldn't play around with this girl, but I am curious to what else she can do. Besides from what I saw her intellect is quite compelling. She may be the first person I know to actually give me a challenge.'

As she walked down the street something caught one of her eyes that she had formed in a nearby building.

"Looks like the game is over and I was looking forward to so much more from you," she frowned to herself. Dispersing her other eyes and ears that weren't at the building she presumed to have found her target Ms. Sunday created arms to grab the shadowed figure she caught sight of. As soon as her arms grabbed the dark figure she realized she was holding not flesh but…stone?

The door she was near broke down as a strange creature came out. It looked to be some sort of large hunched humanoid. What really caught her attention were the runes in the skin of the creature. They were covered in the same pink color as the energy as Gwen used! The creature leapt at her and had pinned her down due to being caught off guard…again!

'I'm starting to think I underestimated this girl.'

Using the arms she had produced on the creature earlier she tried to break them or at least distract it long enough to be able to pry it off of her. With a little determination she managed to focus long enough to create arms underneath the creature to push it off of her.

"Think that will be enough to stop me? Think again. Dieciséis Fleur!"

Sixteen arms appeared before the large ape like creature.

"Dos Manos!"

The previous sixteen arms assimilated into two larger arms. Once the two arms formed, they combated the stone creature in the bizarrest struggle anyone could ever see. Well, how would you feel if you saw a rock monster fighting a giant pair of arms that were sticking out of the ground.

The two strange combatants tested one another's strength in a hand lock push contest. Their strength seemed even for the moment but Ms. Sunday didn't waste any time in creating more arms. She knew that it would be difficult if she used her powers directly on the rock creature directly, so she formed them out of the sand ground next to him. The new arms grabbed from behind the stone creatures legs and pulled on them causing the creature to fall face down in the sand. With a somewhat arrogant grin Ms. All Sunday had swatted the stone creature with the giant left arm. The rock golem was sent into one of the nearby buildings with a resounding crunch noise. When the dust settled the golem had a lost an arm from the collision.

"Not bad but if that's all you have consider yourself a guest for dinner at Crocodile's." Ms. All Sunday commented.

Nearby Gwen only grinned at the situation. "Not even close lady. Time to send in the cavalry. Silicus Milez Sositatio!"

Soon more of those rock creatures began bursting out of the ground. And they did not look happy one bit. Ms. Sunday was caught in the moment when a pair of stone arms grabbed her legs. Just then a large body of dense stone came crashing down on her. Back at her hiding spot Gwen went back to healing Pell. "This should give me enough time to get Pell safe from her and to form up another strategy."

It took only a few minutes to heal the injuries that the avian warrior sustained from his bout with the Croc's right hand women. The warrior gurgled slightly as he shifted slightly on the crate bed. "Just take it easy Pell. Just rest for now."

Pell may have been healed but he still had to keep from moving too much and the pain still had taken a hold on his conscious mind. Besides he would only get hurt again if he tried to help Gwen. Besides, his body was still sore and he had couldn't stay awake anymore. He slipped back into unconsciousness.

From the window Gwen could see that the stone creatures she brought were dwindling in numbers. "Looks like play time is over." Feeling a little worried about fighting this woman Gwen found confidence in thinking what Ben would do. Show them what a Tennyson can do. In the spur of the moment she said to herself her cousin's catchphrase, "It's Hero Time!"

Ms. Sunday was having slight difficulty with the stone creatures. While they weren't that intelligent they did a fair show of teamwork and were quite durable. They had managed to have her backed up to a door of a building. Luckily there were only five creatures left and she felt it wouldn't take much longer to get rid of them. Preparing to send another wave arms at her opponents she formed her pose, "Doce Fle…"

"Faloon Quarca Daminiga!" The door behind Ms. Sunday flung from it frame and hit her squarely on the back pushing her forward right into a rock golem. The golem caught her in a bear hug.

Gwen stepped out of her hiding place, grinning at Ms. All Sunday. "Guess you're not so tough anymore."

Ms. All Sunday simply looked at her and replied. "Seis Fleur."

As soon as Gwen saw the petals coming she immediately created an energy sphere around herself purely on instinct. What shocked Gwen was that the arms didn't sprout on her body but on the mana shield she had created herself. Ms. Sunday herself was annoyed that the petals couldn't bypass the shield encompassing Gwen.

Realizing that she had found a potential flaw in Ms. All Sunday's powers, Gwen looked at her opponent. "Looks like your little flower power only works if it can reach its target."

Sporting a scowl Ms. All Sunday glared at Gwen, "Don't think that just because you found away to stop my powers from reaching your body means I can't hurt you." She commenced having the arms on the shield attack it. The shield didn't look very durable and once it was gone, Gwen would be an open target.

Gwen however wasn't worried as she signaled the golem holding Ms. Sunday to squeeze harder on her. Gasping for air Ms. Sunday's control on the arms disappeared as she lost concentration from the pain. Another rock creature came and was prepared to pulverize the captive on Gwen's order.

"Now tell me where my friends are." Gwen demanded angrily.

With her eyes squinted Ms. All Sunday looked up at Gwen and said only five words, "Trienta Fleur! Cuatro Manos! Clutch!"

This time, eighty arms sprouted, forming together to create four extremely large arms. The new sprouted arms attacked the two golems closest to her. Using two arms to pry the creature's grip off of her while another one to swat away the rock monster that was ready to help interrogate her. The final arm attacked the shield around Gwen. It cracked after one hit before the second blow completely annihilated it and sent Gwen flying back a few meters.

The last three rock humanoids went to attack Ms. Sunday only to have them blocked by the four arms. Quickly disposing of the other summons Ms. Sunday turned her attention onto Gwen. Quickly reacting she decided to go for a bird's eye view, "Saphirius Expectorium Perpetuem!" The new incantation created a whirl wind that lifted Gwen up and giving her shield from the four large arms from attacking.

'I've got to end this soon I'm losing energy from all the spells, mana constructs, and injuries I've endured.'Gwen thought.

'This girl is good.' Ms. All Sunday thought. 'I don't know who she is but she is defiantly a threat. I can't have her and the Straw Hats interfere with my plans, not now.' Taking note of Gwen's small pants she realized Gwen didn't have much longer either before she too tired out.

"Looks like we're coming to the closing of this little dance of ours. You are good, I will give you that, but I can't let you stop our organization."

Gwen gave a defiant smile to her, "Sorry but I got other plans."

"Do you really think you and your captain can stop Crocodile, one of the seven Warlords of the Sea?"Ms. All Sunday asked her.

Giving a fierce look of determination Gwen shouted back at the second higher up of Baroque Works. "I don't know if Luffy can stop him, but if anyone can it's Ben."

Interested in the girl's confidence in not her captain but in her cousin, Ms. All Sunday inquired as to why. "You seem awfully confident in your cousin. Why? You know he's up against a Warlord. Does your confidence come from stupidity or blind faith?"

Snarling at her opponent, Gwen barked right back at her, "You don't anything what Ben has done or is capable of. Trust me he's come across far more powerful people than your boss."

Amused at the girl, Ms. All Sunday decided to stow away that piece of information away from Crocodile. "Why don't we skip the pleasantries and end this conflict."

Generating mana around her hands and eyes, Gwen nodded in agreement. "Bring it!"

Ms. Sunday had the Cuatro Manos arms take a swipe at Gwen but only as a distraction as she prepared to make more arms and hopefully catch Gwen off guard and sprout new appendages on her.

Gwen however went for a different approach instead of attacking the enlarged arms or creating a shield around herself. She tried for another spell.

"Terra Trema Eradico."

The building behind Ms. Sunday started collapse and the broken pieces shot out at her. A few pieces managed to smash into her before she had the massive arms she made try to swat away the falling rubble and debris. But the spell had only been a ruse so that Gwen could get a clear shot at Ms. Sunday. Shooting towards her and over the remaining engorged arms, which had diminished due to the lack of concentration Ms. Sunday had, Gwen began her final blitz. "Fracio Gravis!"

Ms. Sunday was caught in Gwen's enchantment as her body became heavily weighed down by the new force of gravity exerting itself on her. With her body affected by the gravity spell, so too did her extra limbs. With one last chant Gwen hit Ms. Sunday with as much mana as she could spare.

"Adfishio Patentuia!" A barrage of mana blasts came shooting from Gwen as they struck Ms. Sunday. Unable to move or defend herself Ms. Sunday took the full assailment head on. Crying out in pain Ms. Sunday fell face down onto the sands of Arabasta.

Panting heavily from over exerting herself Gwen smiled in triumph. "Since you didn't wanna talk before, I think I'll find out where my friends are being held by myself. I just hope this spell works better than last time." Reaching out with one hand Gwen used what little mana she had. "Astendo Specialis." Before Gwen a small portal was shown above Mrs. Sunday. This spell was meant to reveal secrets. Perhaps it would allow her to learn Ms. All Sunday's secrets.

The portal showed the casino where she and her friends were supposed to head to. She saw the trap floor that Luffy and the others fell into and the way to room they were in. "Gotcha ya."

But the scenes didn't end there. The portal now showed a little girl that looked to be Ms. Sunday. It also showed a plethora of ships that had the navy symbol on their sails taking aim at an island. The island in question was bombarded by canon fire. The images in the portal quickly switched to a wanted poster of Ms. Sunday as a little girl with a bounty of 80 million.

"Wh-what is this?" Before Gwen could inquire more a blunt object hit her on the back of her head knocking her out cold. Ms. Sunday steadily rose to her feet. The trail of arms that she created to bring the piece of debris from the destroyed building dispersed at her will.

"It's not nice to nose around in other people's past." Looking down at her in contempt for the invasion into her secrets Ms. All Sunday admitted to herself that she still had respect for her opponent. "You would have beaten me if you had made sure I was out. But then again you don't fight dirty like I do." Gathering her composure and her hat that she had lost during the fight she started dragging Gwen away.

"Come," Ms. All Sunday said, "Time to join your friends."

* * *

As for Luffy, Ben, and the others inside their cage, Luffy had apparently decided to try and lighten the mood.

"Sanji impression," the straw hat boy said. He closed his left eye and curled his right eyebrow. Pretending to hold a cigarette to his lips, he said in a deep voice. "Hey. Did you eat all the meat?"

Usopp burst out into hysterics and began applauding his captains antics. But this was short lived as the two received a nasty beating from Nami.

"Be serious prisoners!" she hollered them. "How can you be like that in this situation?"

"Man," Usopp complained. "We can't get out. It's not like we have anything better to do."

"It's serious because we can't get out!" Nami yelled. "We be killed like this!" She looked over at Zoro, who was sound asleep. "And why are you sleeping?"

Zoro sat up straight, let out a yawn, and started rubbing his eyes."What, is it morning?"

"It's been morning already!" Nami retorted.

"Ben, can you turn into one of your aliens, and bust us out?"

"No good, The Omnitrix still needs to recharge," Ben replied. "At the very least, a few more minutes,"

"By then, we'll all be dead!"

Crocodile, who was eating a table near the cage, chuckled at Nami's actions. "You're quite a feisty young girl."

Nami glared at him. "What? You'd better take this time to compose yourself. Once these guys get out of this cage, they'll knock your worthless hide above the clouds! Isn't that right, Luffy?"

"Yeah!" Luffy cried. "Get ready, punk!"

Crocodile grinned. "You are a captain with great trust placed in you, Straw Hat Luffy...Trust." he leaned back in his seat. "The most useless thing in the world."

"How dare you make fun of us!" Nami yelled at him.

Usopp patted her on the back and waved his hand in a cease and desist motion. "Q-Quit it, or you'll get him mad!"

Just then the doors leading to upstairs opened up. Everyone looked to see who was coming down.

"Gwen!" Ben cried out in shock.

Sure enough, Ms. All Sunday was walking down the stairs. And she was carrying an unconscious Gwen with her.

"You monster!" Nami yelled angrily. "What did you do to her?"

"Leave her alone!" Usopp said. "Or you're gonna regret it!"

"By you?" Zoro asked, looking at Usopp doubtfully.

"No, by Kevin," Ben said quietly. This cage was the only thing keeping him from tearing Crocodile apart, "You've seen the way he acts around Gwen. Anyone hurting her is pretty much asking for a death sentence from him."

Smoker stayed silent the entire time.

"All, Ms. All Sunday," Crocodile said. "So you've rounded up another member of the Straw-hats."

Ms. All Sunday nodded before looking over at Gwen. "Be careful with this one." she said as she continued walking down the stairs to her boss. "She has powers I have never seen before. And she claims she didn't get them from a Devil Fruit."

"Really now?" Crocodile said as he looked at Gwen. "Interesting."

"You might also find it interesting that she's apparently the cousin of that monster boy whose been giving you so much trouble," Ms. All Sunday added.

Crocodile's eyes narrowed in on both Gwen and Ben. "Is that so?"

Nami glared. "You just made a big mistake! Once Ben's watch finishes recharging, he's gonna make you pay!"

Usopp nodded. "That's right! He can turn into a whole bunch of monsters! I bet any one of them can beat you easy!"

Crocodile looked at him. "Is that so? You're quite confident in this boy."

"So was she," Ms. All Sunday said as she placed Gwen on a chair at Crocodile's table. She was no fool. If she tried to put Gwen the cage, it would give the prisoners an opening to escape. Besides, what good would a sea-stone cage do against a girl with powers like hers? "In fact, she was certain that this Ben could defeat you even if the captain can't."

"No way!" Luffy yelled angrily. "Me and Ben are gonna kick Crocodile's butt together!"

Crocodile had a devious grin on his face. " You and Ben, you say? My...now I'm really interested."

Crocodile looked over at the crew. "So Ben...tell me about yourself. How are you capable of turning into all these "monsters" that I've heard so much about. My agents say that you have some sort of green and white device on his wrist, which you would touch before turning into these monsters. Is that true?"

"Like'd I ever tell you!" Ben yelled angrily.

"Let me out of this cage!" Luffy demanded. "I'm gonna kick your butt!"

Crocodile just chuckled. "Aw, well. No matter. It's just about time for the party to being. Am I wrong, Ms. All Sunday?"

Ms. All Sunday reached into her pocket and pulled out a pocket watch. "You are correct."

The Straw Hat crew and Smoker looked at her.

"It's past 7."

Crocodile looked at the Straw-hat crew. "Did you really think my plans could be foiled by one princess and a ragtag pirate crew alone?"

"What exactly is your plan?" Nami asked.

"If you must know, some of my own agents have infiltrated both the Rebel Army and the Royal Army."

Everyone except Ms. All Sunday and Smoker's eyes widened.

"Yes. Quite a plan isn't it?"

Nami looked at him in shock. "You...you don't..."

Crocodile looked at her. "The Royal Army and Rebel Army will meet. And thanks to my agents...they will still fight each other to the death. Once the armies are wiped out, the people will turn to me for protection."

Zoro glared at him. "So it's begun."

Crocodile laughed.

Luffy and Ben were both furious.

"What an evil plan," Nam said in disgust.

"I think this guy fits definition of "depraved" to the letter." Ben said in disgust.

"That jerk!" Luffy roared. "If only this cage weren't here..."

"Haha, I can remember all the hassle I had to go through to get this far. Collecting up members, scraping up the silver necessary to produce the Dance Powder, stirring up town to the brink of destruction, teaching my employees to carry out false acts of army corruption, slowly eroding the people's trust in their king and increasing their frustration!" He looked over at Luffy and the others. "Do you know why I want to control this country so badly, Straw-hats?"

"Who cares?" Luffy asked. "I'm gonna kick your butt!"

Smoker narrowed his eyes at Crocodile. Why indeed did the warlord want this country so badly?

"Gwen!" Nami cried. "Wake up! Wake up, please! We need you. Gwen, wake up!"

Gwen seemed to stir but that was about it. Perhaps what they needed to do was shout some more and then Gwen would wake up. She'd be able to open the cage and get them out.

Crocodile looked Ms. All Sunday once over. And looked like she had put through the miller. "You mean to tell this girl did all that to you, Ms. All Sunday?"

Ms. All Sunday nodded grimly. "This girl is powerful and quite clever. Clearly the Straw-hats are not to be underestimated."

"Is that so?" Crocodile asked her as he walked over to Gwen. "If that's the case...I shall dispose of her now."

"No!" Nami cried.

"Gwen!" Ben shouted.

"Leave her alone!" Usopp yelled. Then in a rare moment of courage, Usopp pulled out his slingshot, aimed at Crocodile, and let his ammo fly. "Exploding Star!"

The ammunition hit Crocodile square in the back and exploded.

"Yeah! You got him, Usopp!" Nami cheered.

"Wrong," Smoker said.

Suddenly the smoke from the explosion was swept away in what appeared to be a miniature sand storm.

"Sand?" Nami and Usopp cried in shock.

The sand swirled into a tornado for a brief moment before it formed into...a completely unharmed Crocodile.

"He ate a Devil Fruit!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Correct," Crocodile said as he looked over at the captured Straw-hats. "The Sand Sand Fruit. A feeble attack like that could never harm me."

Usopp gulped and began trembling nervously. He was gonna die. He just knew it. He was gonna die.

"You are a spirited bunch," Crocodile said calmly. "That's either admirable or completely stupid."

The others glared at him angrily.

"There's only eight hours until the killing begin," Crocodile said. "But it's time for me and Ms. All Sunday to take our leave. Also, this base will self-destruct within one hour."

The Straw Hats stared at him in shock.

"I have no use for this Baroque Works secret base anymore. Water will flood into this room and turn it into part of the Rainbase lake. Water will flood into this room and turn it into part of the Rainbase lake."

"Rainbase lake?" Nami asked. She found a window and looked outside. She gasped. All she could see was water. "Guys...this room is underwater!"

The others looked out the window and were quite surprised to see that Nami was right. Then, something swam past the window. Looking out, the gang saw the sight that was truly frightening. At least for Nami and Usopp. Outside swimming were gigantic crocodiles with what appeared to be bananas growing out of their heads.

"Whoa, look!" Luffy said. "There's a crocodile growing out of that banana!"

Usopp whacked him in the head. "Look at them, stupid! That's a banana growing out of that crocodile!"

Crocodile chuckled. "My bananadiles. Quite the hungry creatures, they are. Anything I throw to them, they think is food." He looked over at Luffy and the others. "This Ben of yours won't be able to stop me and now neither can you. All who try to defy me are doomed to fail. Just like that pathetic old hole digging man."

Luffy looked at him. "What? You mean Mr. Sandy Guy?"

Crocodile looked at him and put his hand under his chin. "So. You know him? What a stupid old geezer. He keeps digging up an oasis that died long before." Crocodile laughed. "It's hilarious isn't it? And he thinks he can overcome the sand-storms, over and over..."

"What did you say?" Ben demanded in outrage.

"Tell me, "Straw Hat" Luffy," Crocodile said. "Do you think "sand-storms" can attack a town successfully so many times?"

Luffy froze. Sweat started to drip down his forehead.

Nami gasped and took a step back. "He didn't..."

Crocodile laughed as his hand started to turn into sand and take the form of a small tornado.

"You did that?" Luffy roared angrily. Now he wanted to beat the crap out of Crocodile even more.

Crocodile threw back his head and laughed as if this was just a funny joke as he and Ms. All Sunday began leaving the room.

Just then panels opened up in the ground. Water started to rush in.

"Oh, no!" Usopp cried. "The water's coming up from the floor! The room's going to get flooded to the top! Gwen! Do something! Save us! I don't want this to be the last hour of my life!"

"Just shut up, would you?" Zoro asked him.

"How do you expect me to do that?" Usopp demanded. "Do you know what happens if we don't do anything? We die!"

Luffy looked as Crocodile began walking away. Anger built up in him. "Gwen!" he yelled. "Wake up! Get us out of here!"

Gwen groaned as she started to get up. Groaning again, she rubbed her head. "Huh? What?"

Crocodile laughed. "Are you begging for your life already, Straw-hat Luffy? I guess everyone is afraid of dying."

Gwen shook her head to clear her thoughts and looked around. "What's going on? Where am I?" Her eyes landed on her caged friends. "Guys!"

"Gwen!" Luffy yelled. "Get us out of here! We need to stop Crocodile!"

"Crocodile?" Gwen asked. Then she looked over to the stairway and saw Crocodile. "You! You're Crocodile?"

Crocodile grinned as he looked over at her. "You're awake. How nice."

Mana formed around Gwen's hands.

Just then another panel opened up right by Crocodile. And one of his banadiles climbed out.

Gwen's jaw dropped. "What the?"

The banadile walked into the room and its eyes landed on Gwen. It could already tell she was food.

"Beat it up, Gwen!" Luffy yelled.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Usopp snapped. "It's too big!" He looked at Gwen."Run away, Gwen! You can't fight it! B-but save us too."

"You're the one being ridiculous!" Nami retorted at him. Then she noticed something. "Hey! Look out the window! They're all lining up!"

"Waiting for their food," Crocodile commented. "Let's see how well you stand against them."

The bananadile opened its colossal jaws wide. Gwen tried to attack but the banadile moved with deceptive speed despite its colossal size. Gwen managed to dodge out of the way in time and the bananadile's jaws instead chomped onto the stone stairs that were right behind Gwen. With one bite, the bananadile shattered the stairs.

"It's so fast!" Usopp cried. "It crushed the stone staircase in one bite. Those jaws must be insanely powerful!"

Gwen tried to move towards a better fighting spot, but the banadile's tail whacked her to the side.

"Gwen!" Ben, Nami, Usopp, and Luffy yelled in concern

"The tail!" Luffy cried in shock.

"Man, that monster's unstoppable!" Usopp cried.

Gwen struggled to get up. That tail packed a bunch and she was still pretty worn out from her fight with Ms. All Sunday.

"Run, Gwen!"

"Get up!

"It'll eat you!"

As Crocodile and Ms. All Sunday began walking towards the exit to outside, a ringing noise filled the air, causing the pair to stop.

"Phone call..." Ms. All Sunday said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small Den Den Mushi. it was a Baby Den Den Mushi, which was used for close range communication instead of things like overseas. "What?" She asked.

"Hello?" A voice on the other end said. "Hello? Can you hear me?"

Luffy and the others paused at what they were doing.

"Yes, I can." Ms. All Sunday replied. "You're "Millions" aren't you?"

"Hey, is this getting through?" the person on the other end asked.

"How should I know, you idiot? I've never used one of these things before." Somebody in the background replied.

"I wasn't asking you! The first person snapped. Then they spoke back into the Baby Den Den Mushi. "Hello?"

"What is it?" Ms. All Sunday asked.

"Oh," the voice said. "Okay. I'll just talk like this."

Crocodile was getting impatient. "Hey! Spit it out already! What happened?"

"Oh, that voice. I've heard that voice before."

Crocodile paused. What was going on?

"Welcome sir," said the person on the other end. "This is Restaurant Le Crap."

Crocodile froze. "Restaurant Le Crap!" He yelled.

"Nice...you remembered. I'm so happy."

Crocodile was struck dumb. Those words. Those were the words used by who he thought was Mr. 3 when he contacted Little Garden. He couldn't believe it. Aside from Ben and Vivi, he should have had all the Straw-hat pirates with him. Was there possibly others?

Meanwhile, everyone in the room had their attention drawn.

"That voice," Usopp asked.

"Restaurant Le Crap?" Nami repeated. "That sounds like..."

"Sanj..." Luffy started to yell when Usopp covered his mouth.

"Wait, Luffy," He hissed. "Maybe he doesn't know about him."

Gwen gasped. That was true. Sanji, Chopper, and Kevin weren't here. Crocodile hadn't caught them yet.

Ms. All Sunday had a knowing smile on her face. But Crocodile wasn't paying attention.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"Me? My name is...Mr. Prince." Just then there was a whacking sound in the background. "Oi! What was that for?"

"For being an idiot," said the second voice. Then it spoke to Crocodile. "You're that Crocodile guy aren't you? Well listen and listen good. My name's Kevin Levin. And I've got a good feeling you have my friends."

"Kevin!" Usopp gasped. "He's safe too!"

Crocodile growled. "Mr. Prince and Kevin Levine. Where are you two?"

Kevin laughed. "I'm not stupid. You'd come kill us if we told you, right?"

"Whether he can or not remains to be seen," Said Sanji, who indeed was the so called Mr. Prince. "We give out lots of "info" easily. And we're not idiots...unlike you, Mr. O. Well, Kevin might be."

"What? Just because I told him my name? I'm not scared of him. Besides, like "Mr. Prince" is any better. What is that supposed to be? Prince Charming or something?"

Crocodile felt his blood boil. These two were trying to make a fool out of him.

"Prince!" Usopp cried. "Kevin! Save us!"

"We've been captured! We don't have much time!"

Sanji chuckled on the other end. "Who does that sound like? Sounds like my crew. Well I'll just be..."

"No," Kevin said all of a sudden. "This guy's got a lot of nerve capturing our friends and thinking he can get away with it. I'll bet he's got a smug grin on his face right now. And I want to beat it off him."

"Oi, Kevin! What are you..."

Wham!

"Sorry about that, prince," Kevin said. "Your voice was bugging me. Alright, Crocodile. If you think you're so tough, come out and face me right now. I'll be happy to pound some pain into you for all the trouble you've caused."

"Kevin, what are you doing?" Gwen demanded.

"Kevin!" Ben yelled. "Are you insane?"

"Let us out of here!" Nami cried.

"Where are you?" Crocodile asked.

"I'm at the front of that wacky casino you've got. Dude, if you a better secret base...lose the fake crocodile. With something like that, you might as well paint a sign that says "I'm right here. Come and get me"."

"Kevin, that punk," Zoro snarled.

"Kevin! We need you!" Luffy cried.

Usopp was now a blubbering pool of tears.

"Please, Kevin. You're our only hope." Nami said, looking like she was about to cry as well.

Gwen knew something was hope. Kevin was reckless but not this reckless. And he wouldn't have knocked out a potential ally. Sure Sanji was annoying but he was also amazingly strong. As strong as, if not possibly stronger, than some of Ben's own aliens. So...what was going on?

Smoker simply stared at the conversation. Something strange was going on. Of that, he was certain.

Crocodile laughed after Kevin hung up. "Fine. Let's go the front gate. I wish to teach this fool what happens when you cross me."

Ms. All Sunday smiled. "As you wish."

Gwen knew she needed to act fast. Kevin might be up to something or he might have possibly decided to simply pick a fight with Crocodile. But then she became aware of the bananadile coming up at her.

"Tempestus!" Gwen cried, raising her hands.

The water in the room rose into the form of a tidal wave and slammed into the bananadile's side. The large beast toppled over and fell on it's back. It struggled to get back on it's feet.

"Whoa! Nice one, Gwen!" Luffy cheered.

Smoker's eyes widened. "How did she..."

"Gwen's a witch!" Luffy cried. "She can do magic!"

Gwen sighed at Luffy's declaration. But she had no time for this. She was torn between trying to think of a spell that would set the others free or go and find Kevin. But then the bananadile began thrashing widly to get back on its balance. It's tail whacking into whatever it could.

"Gwen!" Nami cried. "Do something about that gator!"

Gwen raised her hand, pointing at the bananadile. "Somnus!"

The bananadile suddenly went limp before it fell into a deep sleep.

Crocodile's eyes widened in shock. He had turned the moment he had heard Gwen shout out her spell. He had seen her use the water against his pet and put it to sleep. Luffy claimed she was a witch that could use magic. And maybe...maybe that boy was right.

"Guys!" Gwen called. "I'm gonna go get Sanji and Kevin. I'll be right back! I promise!"

"Good idea," Usopp said. "If Kevin tries to go up against Crocodile, he'll be dead."

"Alright," Nami said. "But hurry back, okay!"

Gwen nodded. Then she created mana tiles that she began walking on to reach the top of the stairs.

Crocodile glared at her. He wasn't sure what her powers were, but he wasn't going to let her get away. His body turned to sand except for his hook. The sand with the hook at the end fired towards Gwen.

"Hey!" the others cried. "Look out!"

Gwen turned her head and saw the hook coming at her. She tried to counter but was unable to in time. The hook caught her around the neck.

"Gwen!" Luffy cried.

As he started to reform to normal, Crocodile heaved, slamming Gwen back to the ground. "Cut that crap out!" he stood over her. Gwen groaned weakly from the blow.

Meanwhile, more water was filling into the room and bananadiles were ready and waiting for their meal.

"Gwen!" Luffy shouted. "Open your eyes!"

Gwen sighed weakly as she tried to pick herself up.

Crocodile reformed next to Ms. All Sunday. "If you love your friends so much, then you can die here with them. The water's already filled the bananadile's feeding room and is now going to flood this room. I think I'll bring back those two punks "Mr. Prince" and Kevin Levin here, too. As corpses that is." He laughed as he walked away.

Luffy was filled with rage and swore loudly.

The head of Rain Dinners heard a noise and turned to see who it was. He was surprised to see it was none other than his boss. "Sir, Crocodile. Have you heard the news?"

"Huh? Yes, I have." Crocodile replied.

"The Army and the Rebels have finally met head on. The entire, no. The entire country will be in uproar."

"Hmm," Crocodile said. "Well our king is the kind to look the other way when pirates attack a town. I'm not surprised this happened at all."

Meanwhile, the customers all noticed Crocodile's prescence. They excitedly murmured amongst themselves at the sight of their hero. Soon, they were shouting his praises and cheering him on.

"As popular as ever," Ms. All Sunday said with a smile.

"Bah," Crocodile replied.

* * *

Back amongst the others, Gwen finally came to. Remembering what she was doing, she quickly created a mana bridge, made it to the top, and began running to get Sanji and Kevin.

"She got away!" Nami said happily.

"I just hope she hurries before more water and more of those bananadiles get here," Usopp said with mixed feelings.

"What...what happened here?"

Crocodile had left his casino and was greeted to a pile of his fallen soldiers. They were lying around in heeps.

"With this added to what Pell the Falcon did," Ms. All Sunday said. "All of our Millions in this town have been wiped out."

"What happened?" Crocodile demanded. He walked over to one of the fallen Millions. "Hey!"

The Million looked at his boss weakly. "This guy...called himself Kevin Levin."

Crocodile grit his teeth in anger. "Where did he go?"

"He just left," the Million replied. "Towards the south through town."

"Just now?" Crocodile asked.

Then Crocodile saw something. Someoe was running away. "Him," Crocodile realized. It had to be. "Piece of trash. Don't think you can get away from me."

"Why don't you let him go?" Ms. All Sunday asked.

"Be silent," Crocodile said. "This punk has to nerve to make a fool out me. I will not be humiliated like this!"

Crocodile turned his lower body into sand and flew towards the retreating figure.

Just then, back at Rain Dinners, there was suddenly a huge tremor.

"What the?"

"An earthquake?"

Suddenly the bridge outside Rain Dinners shattered and its pieces fell into the lake.

"Oh no! The bridge to Rain Dinners has sunk!"

"Why?"

"What caused it to fall?"

Ms. All Sunday looked at all the commotion curiously. But she had a feeling she knew what was going on.

Gwen, who had managed to get back to the regular part of Rain Dinners and then outside, saw that the bridge collapsed.

"What happened?" She asked herself.

"Oh, nothing a pair of clever guys didn't do."

Gwen froze.

"Now Baroque Works can't get back. All according to plan."

Gwen turned around to see Kevin and Sanji sitting at one of the slot machines.

"Sanji? Kevin? But..."

"We sent Chopper off as a decoy," Sanji explained.

"We have to hurry. The Rebellion started. Something might have happened to Ben." Kevin said.

Gwen gasped.

Sanji grinned as he turned around. Gwen noticed he was wearing a pair of glasses. "Just tell us where to go, Gwen-chan."

Gwen nodded. "Follow me." she ran back to where she had just came from. The other two followed. "So Chopper's a decoy."

"Yeah, he'll be fine." Sanji reassured her. He put a hand on her shoulder as they ran. "Let's hurry, Gwen-chan. Tell me exactly what's going on."

"Mind if I cut in?" Kevin asked as he rudely yanked Sanji's hand away from Gwen. The two glared at each other.

"So," Gwen said. "The whole thing about Kevin knocking Sanji out and challenging Crocodiel to a fight..."

"All a ruse to get Croc out the building," Kevin said. "Luffy's already fired up to beat this guy and I'd feel bad taking that pleasure away from him."

"Oh," Gwen said, looking at her boyfriend and her new friend coyly. "Nice work, you two."

"Thank you, Gwen-chan!" Sanji said happily. Hearts danced in his eyes.

Kevin snarled in annoyance. "So, we had Chopper beat up some of Croc's goons while saying he was me. Then, he was to lure Crocodile away from me."

"But...will Chopper be okay?"

Kevin grinned. "Gwen, the guy can turn into a human, a deer, and a plush toy. The plan was to lure Crocodile far way in his Heavy Point and then sneak away in his Brain Point. Might as well give Croc a dunce cap now because he'll need one."

As for Croc himself, he was looking around for the pest "Kevin Levin. "Where are you? I will find you. And I will kill you."

All the while, Chopper, who had gone back to his brain point form, was slowly, very slowly, walking away from Crocodile, hoping the Shichibukai wouldn't notice him.

* * *

Things weren't going so well for the rest of the gang.

"Aaaaaaaah!" Luffy cried. "The water!"

Usopp was screaming his head off with an occasional "I'm gonna die!" thrown in. "Once this cage is filled, we're done for!"

"It's up to my knees! To my knees!"

"Gwen!" Nami screamed. "Hurry up and get us out of here!"

"Gwen!" Usopp cried. "Save us!"

"Gwen!" Luffy shouted. "Hurry up so I can beat up Crocodile!"

"Worry about getting out of here first!" Nami and Usopp yelled at him.

"Hey," Smoker said.

"How can you be so calm," Nami, Usopp, and Luffy yelled at him. "Think of something to do!"

Smoker ignored their ranting and looked at them calmly. "How much do you know...of Crocodile's targets?"

Luffy looked at him curiously. "That woman Crocodile is with," Smoker said. "Is an outlaw whose been on the run from the World Government for 20 years. the price on her head is more than 70 million."

"70 million?" Usopp cried out. Then he quickly added ."So what?"

"Almost as much as Crocodile's," Nami muttered.

Ben was shocked. Just what kind of crime did Miss All Sunday do to warrant a bounty that high.

"With the two of them joining forces," Smoker said. "This is no longer just the takeover of a nation anymore. If we don't do something now, this will develop into a disaster that will envelop the entire world."

Nami looked at him. "The entire world? What do you mean?"

"That's a little too much to swallow," Usopp said.

Luffy snorted and crossed his arms. "What are you guys talking about? Since when did we need a reason...to kick his worthless butt?"

Smoker looked at Luffy in what might be considered amusement. "Fine. So how are you getting out of here?"

Luffy looked down and wigged out at seeing the water. "Aaaaah! It's up to my thighs!"

"Gyaaaaaah!" Usopp cried. "I'm gonna die! Gyaaaaaaah!"

"Nooooooo!" Nami wailed.

"Ugggh," Luffy went limp. "I feel faint."

Usopp grabbed him and started shaking him."No! Nooooo! Hang in there! Gwen's on her way! I know it!"

"Gwen," Nami said. "We really need you right now."

Zoro cursed himself. If I were only stronger, I could cut this cage open!"

A familiar beeping was heard as the Omnitrix was now fully charged, "Yes! Don't worry guys I got this now!"

Ben activated the Omnitrix and slammed down the dial, in a green flash of light there stood a small, red alien who bore a close resemblance to a gremlin or imp. He had the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, "JURY RIGG!"

The crew and Smoker stood shocked at the transformation. How could such a small creature help them escape?

"Disassemble! FIX FIX FIX FIX FIX!" Jury Rigg leaped up to the bars and broke them apart with ease. In no time at all, the entire cage was in pieces.

"Whoa! Nice job Ben!" Usopp said.

Jury Rigg cackled as he transformed back.

"Yeah, but how are going to get out of here before the place floods?" said Nami

"Heh. Need a hand?"

The gang looked up to see Gwen, Kevin, and Sanji standing above stairway.

"Kevin!" Usopp and Luffy cried. "Prince!"

"Oh, thank you," Nami said weakly

"About time!" Zoro said. "Hurry up and get us out of here!"

Sanji then started to dance like a noodle. "Nami-saaan! Do you love me now?"

Nami groaned. "Yes. Yes. I love you. Now open the door!"

"Okaaaaay!" Sanji said.

"His eternal stupidity knows no bounds," Zoro muttered.

Kevin, who had waded through the water to the remains of the cage, laughed. "I heard that!" He agreed.

Kevin grabbed the bars of the cage and began absorbing. In no time, his body was coated with a layer of seastone.

Smoker's cigar nearly fell out of his mouth. Impossible! This boy merely touched the seastone...and he became seastone! Now he was walking, lethal threat to anyone who ate a Devil Fruit. How in the world could somebody do such a thing? This boy obviously couldn't be a Devil Fruit user since seastone was harmful to Devil Fruit eaters. But if that was the case...what was he?

A boy who can turn into monsters, a girl that can use magic, and now a guy who can turn into something like seastone. Just what kind of people are a part of this crew?

"Whew," Kevin said as he looked at his new form. "This doesn't feel like metal or rock. What is this?"

"It's seastone," Nami explained. "It can negate the powers of Devil Fruit users and cause harm to them!"

"Really?" Kevin asked as he looked at himself again. "Nice."

"That can give us a real edge over Crocodile," Ben suggested.

A growling noise caused Kevin, Gwen, and Sanji to turn around. And they saw bananadiles filling the room.

"Crap," Sanji said. "Look at them all."

"Go, Sanji!" Usopp cried. "Go, Gwen! Go, Kevin! Go Ben! Kill them all!"

"Sanji," Kevin said. "Buy me some time while I find a way out."

Sanji lifted his leg up as he glared at the bananadiles. "Bring on as many as you want, you crappy bananas. I have to knock all the table manners I know into punks that would harm a lady."

Apparently Gwen must have told him about how the crocodile almost ate her. Ben thought.

* * *

Crocodile, after falling to find Kevin Levin, returned back to Rain Dinners where he discovered the bridge was out. Using his powers, he brought himself and Ms. All Sunday back. They were heading back to the basement room to face the prisoners.

"He sunk the bridge to buy them time," Crocodile figured. "And there are still several more of them out there! Was that to sneak past us and get to the room? A waste of time. Theyt don't even have the key. It's right here with me. So even if she did bring help. They'll all drown."

Ms. All Sunday smiled. "Evil man." She commented. But she was certain that Gwen girl might have found a way to get out.

Crocodile flew open the doors that led to the room. "I'm fed up with those little runt! Time to kill all of them myself!"

But the sight that greeted Crocodile left his almost speechless. "What the?"

The water had now risen up to almost the top of the stairs where he was standing. The cage was open, the prisoners were gone, his bananadiles were all floating in the water completely knocked out, and there was something. His subordinate Mr. 3.

Crocodile remembered. He had all of his Baroque Work agents come to a meeting to discuss Operation Utopia. Mr. 3 appeared and revealed the Straw-hat pirates were not dead and that someone else had given him that report. The unknown, at the time, Mr. Prince. But since Mr.3 had failed to kill the Straw-hats anyway, Crocodile had fed the fool to his bananadiles.

Now here Mr. 3 was, floating on a piece of driftwood. And on his chest was a note. It read:

See you, later. Croc of Crap!

And on the sides of the note were two names. And those names were none other than;

Kevin Levin and Mr. Prince.

 _ **End of Chapter  
**_

* * *

 _ **AN: Alright then, that's all the chapters Bigby wrote before he stopped, if you guys have any ideas you want to contribute I'm all ears. Til then I'll see you guys next chapter.**_

 _ **Update: So for chapter 9, I changed Ben and Luffy's fight so that Ben would listen to his side of the argument which meant that Ben would still stay with the crew. I honestly never really liked how Ben left as I think he could of understood what Luffy meant if he didn't go Rath on him. But nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed the changes I made. Also, would it be alright if someone could draw some fan art of this story because I think it would be great if this story got more attention.**_


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